Angus Tiffin and Graham Fraser
BBC News
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An international law firm has blocked general access to several artificial intelligence tools (AI) after finding a “significant increase in use” by its staff.
In an email seen by the BBC, the main director of Hill Dickinson, which employs more than a thousand people in the United Kingdom, warned the staff of the use of AI tools.
The company said that a large part of the use was not in accordance with its AI policy, and that the company would only allow staff to access tools via a request process.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Information Commissioner – The UK Data Key – told BBC News that companies should not discourage the use of AI in work.
The spokesperson added: “AI offering people in countless ways to work more effectively and effectively, the answer cannot be that organizations prohibit the use of AI and lead the staff to use it under the radar.
“Instead, companies must offer their staff AI tools that meet their organizational policies and data protection obligations.”
In the email, Hill Dickinson’s technology director said the law firm had detected more than 32,000 strokes of the popular chatgpt chatbpt over a period of seven days in January and February.
During the same period of time, there were also more than 3,000 strokes in the service of Chinese AI Deepseek, which has recently been prohibited from Australian government devices on security problems.
He also highlighted nearly 50,000 strokes in Grammarly, the writing help tool.
However, it is not clear on the number of opportunities that the staff visited Chatgpt, Deepseek or Grammarly, or how many staff visited several times, because several hits could have been generated by a user each time they used websites.
E -mail to Hill Dickinson employees said: “We have monitored the use of AL tools, in particular the AL generative solutions accessible to the public, and we have noticed a significant increase in the use and download of files on, such tools. “
Positive use of AI
Hill Dickinson, who has offices in several parts of England and abroad, said later to BBC News: “Like many law firms, we aim to positively embrace AI to improve our capacities while always guaranteeing safe use and appropriate by our people and for our customers. “
The company added that its AI policy, which includes advice that prohibits the download of customer information and obliges personnel to verify the accuracy of the responses of large language models, will guarantee that use “will remain safe , secure and efficient “.
The company now only grants access to AI tools via a request process. It is understood that certain requests have already been received and approved.
A spokesperson for solicitors regulation Authority, who regulates lawyers in England and Wales, told BBC News: “Despite this increased interest in new technologies, there remains a lack of digital skills in all sectors of United Kingdom.
“This could present a risk for businesses and consumers if legal practitioners do not fully understand the new technology implemented.”
According to a survey of 500 lawyers in the United Kingdom by the provider of CLIO legal software in September, 62% provided an increase in the use of AI in the following 12 months.
He revealed that law firms across the United Kingdom used technology to perform tasks such as documents, review or analysis of contracts and legal research.
A spokesperson for the Department of Sciences, Innovation and Technology has described AI as a “technological jump” that will release workers from repetitive tasks and will unlock more enriching opportunities “.
They declared to BBC News: “We are committed to advancing legislation which allows us to safely carry out the enormous advantages of AI. We are largely committed and will launch a public consultation in due time to guarantee that our approach approaches effectively this rapid evolution technology. “
Additional report by Liv McMahon
