Tech Tips

• Publication year: 2024
• Citation: Vol. 47 No. 5 Pg. 40
• Pages: 40

Tech TipsVol. 47 No. 5 Pg. 40Wyoming Bar JournalOctober, 2024

Blake A. Klinkner

Generative Artificial Intelligence and Attorney Competence

Blake Klinkner is a professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Generative artificial intelligence is technology with the ability to create new content in response to a user's questions and prompts, such as written material, images, audio, and video. Generative artificial intelligence is taking the world by storm, as its accessibility and utility have increased simultaneously with the advancement of this technology. The legal community has taken note of generative artificial intelligence, and increasingly, attorneys are exploring the ways in which generative artificial intelligence may be used in their practices. Recently, the American Bar Associations Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility provided guidance on how attorneys may use generative artificial intelligence consistent with their duty of competence.^[1]

Like the corresponding ABA Model Rule, Wyoming Rule of Professional Conduct 1.1 mandates that attorneys provide competent representation to their clients. Fortunately for attorneys, Rule 1.1 does not require attorneys to become experts in generative artificial intelligence before using artificial intelligence in their practices.^[2...