The phrase “artificial intelligence” can have the effect of instilling either real concern or frothing excitement depending on who you talk to.
There are those who look glumly at the relentless march of artificial intelligence (AI) into our lives and cite the 1984 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie The Terminator as life imitating art.
But there are even more institutions and scholars who are actively working to exploit its abilities, including assisting in detecting cancers in scans and X-rays, establishing patterns in critical information, or disseminating large amounts of information in different languages. Those examples are the tip of the technological iceberg.
Of course, where there is anything that is of benefit to a majority of the population, there will inevitably be those who will use AI for nefarious and even illegal ends.
Nevertheless, the immediacy of the response time from an AI process is what is intriguing most people working in the field.
So, if the AI is structured correctly, can it be used to speed up the conveyancing of a house sale and/or purchase - a process that is notorious for its apparently snail-like approach to swift progress?
How AI might work for conveyancing
The first thing to note is that AI is not a panacea for all the laborious tasks involved in the conveyancing process.
But, where it will really make a difference is in the processes that require a lot of data-crunching and information-sourcing.
For example, the searches that are ordered as part of the purchase conveyancing for a home requires access to information from the Land Registry, the local authority, utilities providers (specifically drainage and water) and sundry other organisations.
To collate all this information - once it has been provided - and to assess what it means to the individual home purchase necessarily takes a number of days. It is essential that it is interpreted and presented correctly so that there is no subsequent legal recourse.
Now imagine that there is an AI robot sitting in the corner of the solicitor's office.
Computers are now so sophisticated and powerful that churning through such data with speed and accuracy is a task of moments rather than days, once it has been ‘taught' what to look for and how those findings might be best interpreted.
Will we see AI operating in conveyancing now?
The concept of using AI in conveyancing is certainly being considered and talked about. Other sources are suggesting that it is already in use.
InCase notes that AI in the legal sector is certainly being used predominantly in the case of client onboarding (a buzzphrase used to describe bringing new clients' business into a firm).
An interesting piece from Sandra Davidson Estate Agents looks at an experiment that allowed a chatbot (a textual AI application) to answer frequently-asked questions based on conveyancing and the first-time buyers. The results were encouraging, they say, but, while it was generally informative and answered the question, the AI chatbot relied on sources where the information was out of date.
So, in order for the AI process to swiften the conveyancing process, it is almost certainly going to take some time before the accuracy of the responses is acceptable enough for the legal process to be streamlined and effectively precise.
It is coming and both law firms and customers alike will reap the benefits. But, for now, the current conveyancing process looks as if it's here to stay for a while yet.
In addition, it will be necessary for some form of regulation to be imposed to ensure the most appropriate use of the technology - although the speed at which the developments are moving makes that a critical point of discussion.
Watch this space!
Looking for a quality conveyancer who will work hard to shorten the legal process for the best fee right now?
That's where Homeward Legal can really help with affordable but quality conveyancing services!
They will start work on your planned purchase and/or sale as soon as you agree to the quotation and appoint them to represent you, and will work hard to complete the process in as short a time as possible.
Homeward Legal will also provide a quote that will not change - what you are quoted is what you pay for standard conveyancing process.
There are some unforeseen items that might arise during the purchase and/or sale, but the solicitor discusses these and their cost as they come up.
In addition, to protect the homebuyer further, Homeward Legal operates a ‘no completion, no fee' promise, which ensures that, should the purchase or sale not go through as planned to completion status, no payment is required.
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