Legal, tax and audit professionals look forward to AI efficiency promise

The second edition of Thomson Reuters’ Future of professionals report has found that within five years, artificial intelligence (AI) could take over 600 hours of work a professional normally does in their day-to-day job annually.

The 2024 report, based on an annual survey of more than 2,200 professionals working across legal, tax, and risk and compliance fields globally, found that AI has the potential to save them 12 hours per week in the next five years.

According to Thomson Reuters, this time-saving potential is the equivalent productivity boost of adding an extra colleague for every 10 team members.

It claimed this could translate to $100,000 in additional billable hours for a US law firm.

However, the study found that the vast majority of professionals in the legal and tax sectors feel that allowing AI to represent clients in court or make final decisions would be a step too far, and Thomson Reuters said organisations deploying AI need to find the balance between using AI to unlock productivity benefits and provide value without overreaching its practicality.

“The future of AI is not predestined – it’s ours to shape,” said Steve Hasker, president and CEO of Thomson Reuters. “It is our duty to build our AI applications responsibly and ethically.

“We must insist that the same ethics that have long governed legal, tax and accounting, and other knowledge-industry professions also must inform and inspire the professional use of AI,” he said. “We would be wise also to listen to the professionals themselves.”

The survey found that operational efficiency is the main area the professionals polled think will be most impacted by AI. Almost half (47%) of respondents expect to increase their investments in technical infrastructure to support AI over the next five years by 10%.

David Wong, chief product officer at Thomson Reuters, said AI has the potential to automate large volumes of routine tasks, which could help the business to become more effective and efficient.

“The reason why operational changes are at the top is because savvy buyers are now really focusing on ROI, in terms of either cost savings or productivity,” he added.

According to Wong, the survey respondents now had a pretty clear idea of some of the areas where AI could be applied in their jobs, when comparing the latest poll with the survey conducted in 2023.

However, many of the people polled have concerns over the use of AI. The survey shows that respondents are concerned primarily with the accuracy of outputs, and almost two-thirds of respondents agreed that data security is a vital component of responsible use. 

Thompson Reuters said the majority of respondents would prefer to see the introduction of a certification process for AI systems, or having independent bodies create standards for use to ensure responsible AI.