Using AI for Conversational Q&A and Knowledge Management

The technology that powers ChatGPT, Open AI using a large language model (LLM), can be turned to look at specific data repositories. Law firms can create tools that can be used internally or externally to query and chat with a firm’s own data. Several products are already on the market that let you turn an LLM generative AI towards your firm’s knowledge repositories, including your website for external visitors or document/data for internal users.

What is a bot? Think about an automated customer support chat on a website. You interact with it and are taken to an answer, or if it is a complex query, you are eventually sent to a live customer representative. In North Carolina if you have renewed your vehicle registration online (or many other DMV services) you have experienced?a fully automated process?with a chatbot.

Law firms have made use of chatbots for a variety of reasons.?Examples include?optimizing a virtual client experience, generating sales leads, and streamlining the intake process using guided interviews powered by bots. Chatbots can also power the generation of legal documents and conduct legal research. These tools have?been around for a while, leveraging machine learning. However, with generative AI, the tools are easier to use, faster to implement, and require fewer special skills to get up and running.

BETA Warning

Most of the generative AI products on the market are in BETA, pre-release, test, trial, or other not-ready-for-prime-time mode. To that end, when you are testing these tools do not upload confidential, protected, or sensitive information. Be aware that your content and your searches are likely stored, shared, and evaluated. That said, it is certainly important to get a sense of how these tools can be beneficial to your practice and clients, so it is worthwhile to get a head start on understanding the functionality and implications.

Microsoft Virtual Agent

From Microsoft’s?Power Platform products?(Power Virtual Agent, Power Automate, Power BI, Power Pages, Power Apps) comes one of the first previews of CoPilot AI built into a Microsoft product. Power Virtual Agents is a tool that lets you build a bot using AI with low/no code.

The new?Power Virtual Agent?is in preview with the Microsoft AI CoPilot. If you have a Microsoft 365 business subscription you can go to and?sign up?or test it in Microsoft Team. You can?take a guided tour, or if you just want to see it in action you?can try it on a website?without signing up or logging in.?Coming soon you will be able to chain together plugins to complete a task, change the bot tone, upload documents, and more. Power Virtual Agents will cost?$200 a month?for up to 2000 sessions.

Josef Q

Josef Q uses OpenAI to “transform policies and regulations into digital Q&A tools”. Josef, an Australian automation platform for lawyers, has launched a beta version of Josef Q to test in free limited beta. The concept with Josef Q is that corporate legal departments and HR can deliver instant answers about policies, compliance, privacy, and other complex content.

If you are interested in testing this tool?sign up for the waitlist. Once you are admitted you will be able to upload a limited amount of text, ask a few questions to train the AI, and then test it.

Kaya

Kaya?is your “personal AI”. You can build a share an AI that learns for your notes, data, and content. Suggested uses include delivering educational materials, content creation, and building intelligent customer service agents.

To get started create a free login (don’t forget to read the?terms and conditions?and the?privacy policy). You will add your bio and add content. You can share your Kaya page with specific people or make it public. The free version includes only text notes, but the Pro version at $10 per month includes PDFs and audio files.

Want to test Kaya? Go to?https://kaya.chat/catherinesandersreach?and click on AI Chat on the left to ask a practice management question.

Conclusion

AI tools for law firms are coming fast. Tools like?Spellbook?for contracts and documents, as well as new tools from LexisNexis, ThomsonReuters, Fastcase, and many more. PricewaterhouseCoopers will be?giving 4,000 of its legal professionals access to an AI platform?powered by AI startup?Harvey?for contract analysis, regulatory compliance, due diligence and more. There are many ways that AI driven chatbots can be let expand virtual services, provide 24/7 availability to clients, and help lawyers get work done.

This blog was written by?Catherine Reach?and originally published on From the Center Blog. Access more from the?Center for Practice Management.