ChatGPT not an option
Those looking to secure a pupillage in the current round of applications won’t be able to make use of new tech, with the Bar Council outlawing the use of generative AI.
Prospective barristers who apply for a pupillage via the Pupillage Gateway (used by the vast majority of chambers offering pupillages) are required to confirm within their applications that they have not used AI programmes “like ChatGPT”.
A notice, which comes at the end of each application in the “Application Summary and Agreements” section, requires confirmation that the work is the “sole creation and original work” of the applicant. Students are also required to acknowledge that they are “not permitted to use any Generative AI programmes, including Large Language Model (LLM) Programmes like ChatGPT, to write any of the responses contained within it”.
The segment goes on to say that “any application which has been written with the use of any generative AI LLMs like ChatGPT or any similar programme will be excluded from the shortlisting process of the relevant Authorised Education and Training Organisation”.
This approach, however, is worlds away from other areas of the profession.
Those with their eyes on new megafirm A&O Shearman, for example, can find guidance from the firm on how AI can be used to enhance their applications. The outfit encourages students to use AI, a “highly effective resource”, to “help you articulate clearly and concisely”, although does warn that tech should not be “a substitute for your voice and capabilities”.
National outfit Shoosmiths similarly encourages students to “refine and develop your own original thoughts” through the use of AI, again noting however that tech should “not replace” an applicants ideas and thoughts, and that “integrity and honesty are fundamental attributes that cannot be replaced by technology.”
A poll run by Legal Cheek last year found that 1 in 5 students were already using AI to help with their job applications, with other data suggesting that as many as 40% of lawyers are now using AI to make themselves more productive.