AI for work: Professional use cases

How professionals are using AI

While the potential of GenAI to revolutionize industries is undeniable, concerns about accuracy and privacy persist. In the latest Thomson Reuters Institute report, "2024 generative AI in professional services," over half the respondents expressed worries about the following:

• Inaccurate responses (70%)
• Data security (68%)
• Privacy and confidentiality of data (62%)
• Complying with laws and regulations (60%)
• Ethical and responsible usage (57%)

These concerns highlight the need for robust measures to ensure the reliability and responsible deployment of GenAI in professional settings.

However, despite these concerns, the adoption of GenAI is gaining momentum. Almost a quarter of respondents (23%) indicated they were already using GenAI in their workflows (12%) or had active plans to do so (11%). Notably, the report found that the usage of GenAI is higher among legal professionals and corporate risk and fraud professionals compared to tax and accounting or government respondents.

Professionals require technology that addresses the future of work and real-world challenges, such as skills shortages, burnout, and driving employee engagement and satisfaction. GenAI has the potential to alleviate these challenges and deliver added value to internal and external stakeholders alike.

Today’s use cases of GenAI for professionals

From generating legal documents to assisting with bookkeeping, GenAI’s capabilities are proving to be a versatile tool that can enhance productivity and accuracy across a wide range of industries.

Professionals in the legal field are using GenAI to automate the creation of contracts and other legal documents. With automation for the review and summarization of documents, lawyers can save significant time and effort, allowing them to focus on more complex and strategic tasks. Additionally, GenAI can be used to analyze large volumes of legal data, helping lawyers identify relevant information and improve decision making quickly.

As GenAI technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovative and groundbreaking use cases emerge.

The generative AI report mentioned previously highlights the top use cases of professionals across the legal, tax, risk, and government industries.

Some insights include:

• The Institute found document review as a top five use case across all industries
• Tax professionals commonly use GenAI for accounting, bookkeeping, and tax research
• Legal research remains a top use case for law firms, corporate legal departments, government departments, and courts

Here are the top use cases per industry:

• Law firms – legal research
• Corporate legal departments – contract drafting
• Tax firms – accounting and bookkeeping
• Corporate tax departments – accounting and bookkeeping
• Corporate risk departments – risk assessment and reporting
• Government departments and courts – legal research

While public-facing tools like ChatGPT seem to be the primary GenAI technology used currently, that trend is shifting as more industry-specific technology providers introduce their own generative AI solutions.

Still, many respondents in the labor market harbored potential risk concerns about using AI for work. Those concerns largely have not changed since GenAI’s public introduction, with worries about accuracy, security, and confidentiality most cited.

Thomson Reuters GenAI solutions

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Every aspect of our AI technology is transparent and traceable, and we adhere to the highest standards of data protection. We also take a human-centric approach to AI development, prioritizing privacy and maintaining trust with our users.

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By combining revolutionary technology with a strong foundation of trust, we are empowering professionals to make better-informed decisions.

Our generative AI assistant, CoCounsel, is a prime example of how our history of trusted innovation leads to industry-leading, transformative technology for professionals. CoCounsel’s tech combines real-time data, natural language, and expertise into a simple, secure, chat-based interface currently only accessible in our products and select third-party solutions.  

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