International Day for Digital Learning
March 19th marks the International Day for Digital Learning — a perfect moment to revisit and further consider the impact AI is having on the legal profession: Bettina Knoetzl encapsulized the situation with minimal words in Anwaltsblatt (AnwBl 2025, 1): AI – here to stay (Künstliche Intelligenz: Gekommen, um zu bleiben), as the era of AI in the legal profession has taken hold, reshaping at an unprecedented pace the way lawyers practice. Many clients rely on AI to draft contracts, summarize decisions and pleadings, and even generate responses to legal work products. Research, too, can be accomplished, provided the user creates the correct and full prompts.
While some celebrate the great gains in efficiency, others can feel overwhelmed by the flood of new AI tools. And some experts, like Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Zankl, foresaw this shift as early as two decades ago.
From any perspective, we must acknowledge that the legal field faces one of its greatest challenges in peaceful times: how to keep pace with rapid technological transformation. Deliberating lawmakers cannot react fast enough. All leading digital transformation and AI experts must take on a Herculean task: bridging the gap between law and the pervasive acceleration of AI. Bettina Knoetzl appeals to them: While some voices demand that “the human should stay in the loop”, she demands the reverse: It must be AI that remains in the loop, and not the humans. The humans must, rather, stay on top, mindful of our enduring superpower, human creativity, which sets us apart from machines and allows unique “human” solutions. Let’s use it to shape AI for the benefit of justice, Bettina Knötzl concludes.