Attorneys in solo practice or who run a small- to mid-sized law firm understand the challenges of balancing several roles and responsibilities at the same time. While larger, more established firms benefit from dozens of administrative assistants, in-house marketing specialists, and substantial budgets, smaller law firms can find it tricky to serve their clients while also carving out time to manage and improve their digital marketing efforts. With the impressive advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) tools that have become readily available to companies and businesses across all industries, many small law firms are interested in how these technologies can help them work smarter and more efficiently without the considerable costs of hiring other attorneys or legal support staff. By now, you may have played around with generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini assistant to get a sense of their capabilities. Or, you may have already taken steps to include AI features into your current law firm content marketing strategy, such as a live chat option on your website, automated online review requests that are texted or emailed to your clients, or other tools that can cut down on the repetitive nature of certain tasks.
While many of these AI-powered features can be significant in helping you channel more of your time into working with your clients, it’s equally important to pause for a moment and review some of the potential ethical issues of relying too heavily on generative AI tools to handle your digital marketing strategy for law firms. It’s worth taking some time to explore the ethical use of AI in content marketing so that you can minimize or avoid potential problems for your law firm later on. With a trusted and highly experienced content marketing for attorneys strategist by your side, you can feel more confident that your best interests—not to mention the success of your legal practice—will be safeguarded as much as possible. Let’s review some of the primary ethical considerations to be aware of when it comes to creating an impactful digital marketing for law firm strategy.
Look Out For Potential Bias in Generative AI Technologies
First, it’s worth noting that one of the biggest concerns about the integration of generative AI tools into various sectors and industries is the potential for bias. Since generative AI technologies are trained using vast amounts of information that already exists on the web, these tools are going to absorb at least some amount of biased information. This means that when a generative AI tool is composing a response to a user query or request, it’s essential that the user carefully review the output to ensure that it does not include inaccurate or biased information. According to one article exploring the concerns of bias in generative AI, “Once biased outputs are deployed and make their way into the real world, they have the potential to perpetuate stereotypes, helping to widen existing gaps in fairness, representation, access, and opportunity.” Before you hand over all of your content writing projects to generative AI tools like ChatGPT, your law firm should review every product to ensure that it is factually correct, fair, and unbiased. The last thing you want is for potential clients to click through to your website and find the content off-putting or insensitive, so enlist the guidance of a skilled and trusted digital marketing strategist to help you with effective and engaging law firm website design.
Concerns About Citations and Fact-Based Information
Another big concern about integrating generative AI into your law firm’s content marketing strategy is trusting that the content it creates is factually correct and comes from legitimate sources. These technologies scan an unfathomable number of websites in a matter of seconds in order to generate a coherent response to a user’s search parameters, so it can be difficult to determine where the information was gathered and whether these sources are reputable and trustworthy. Several attorneys have played around with having generative AI tools perform complex, time-consuming tasks like summarizing case law or drafting contracts. However, an estimated one out of every six generative AI tools hallucinated (i.e., made up false information) when responding to legal-related questions or prompts. As a smaller law firm, you want potential clients to trust in your ability to provide them with accurate, factual information that is based on real legal citations and sources. For now, it’s still best practice for lawyers to handle tasks like researching case law and providing correct citations.
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Privacy and Security Breaches With AI Technologies
Although generative AI tools may seem as if they will prioritize your law firm’s privacy and security, these technologies are vulnerable to data breaches, malware, and other security issues. As your law firm considers integrating AI tools into your digital marketing strategy, you want to trust that the sensitive information collected from your clients will remain confidential and secure. You can work with one of our digital marketing for law firms strategists to talk through your concerns about maintaining client confidentiality and privacy so that you can select a tool that best supports and protects your goals. Neglecting to think through these privacy issues can lead to significant and serious consequences, such as facing accusations of breaching data privacy laws or other professional obligations.
Start Small to Set Your Law Firm Up For a Successful Future
As with any component of your content marketing strategy, it’s best to start small before running full speed in any one direction. For instance, you can work with your content marketing strategist to add an AI feature to your current website (such as a live chat function) and track its impact on the number of client calls you receive in the days and weeks after launching it. From there, you can tweak the parameters for improved performance and find additional areas where AI tools could help you reach more of the clients you are hoping to serve.
Learn More About Using AI in Legal Marketing Today
When it comes to creating a digital marketing strategy that delivers your law firm the results you’re after, the dedicated team of content marketing strategists at LegalRev is ready to assist you. We know that attorneys are discerning clients, which is why we’re proud of the hundreds of five-star reviews they’ve given us over the years.
Reach out to us today at (800) 893-2590 to get started with a highly experienced digital marketing for law firms expert who can help you achieve your goals.
