Artificial Intelligence: Productivity Tool for Good or Bad?

Artificial intelligence and its impact on the workplace and employment opportunities is the topic of conversation in the news.  It is a controversial topic with many raising concerns about whether the cost of AI in terms of large data centers and potential employment losses outweighs the increase in productivity at work and the ability of AI to perform complex and tedious tasks quickly and efficiently.  The use of AI in the legal field has also been discussed, with many believing that AI is a great tool for brief writing, evaluating claims, and reviewing documents.  Looking at these debates, most of the discussion focuses on the utility of AI for employers – it is used widely to review job applicants, to create marketing documents, and for other tasks that employees would take much longer to complete. 

One area of the use of AI that has not been a focus of our discussion, however, is the use of AI by employees to advance labor and employment law violation claims against their employers on a pro se basis.  When an employee brings a pro se case against an employer, the employee does not need to engage the services of a labor and employment attorney who, at times, can provide the employee with a realistic evaluation of the value of their claims.  Instead, these pro se employees rely on AI chatbots, which serve to both evaluate and advance their claims against employers.  This often can create an unrealistic expectation in the employee about the value of their claim, which in turn makes it more difficult to settle cases for “nuisance value” or to defend against these claims. 

In addition, AI has notoriously created problems in the legal field in terms of the briefs that they draft.  In many instances, legal professionals have submitted AI drafted briefs that include fictitious case citations and other inaccuracies, both embarrassing the attorneys and creating concerns regarding their professional licensing.  These concerns do not have the same impact on a pro se plaintiff who is relying on AI and does not have the professional education, standards or experience to question or confirm the validity of AI’s arguments, supporting documentation or strategy.  This has created a burden on the courts and state agencies, who must now pay more attention to the work of pro se litigants and must scour the documents created on their behalf by AI for accuracy. Courts and state agencies must also serve as a means to counter the unrealistic settlement expectations that can be created in the pro se claimant by AI. 

The issue has become so prevalent that courts are creating rules to address the use of AI.  In some states, courts and state agencies have issued rules that prohibit the use of AI in drafting legal filings or in conducting legal research.  In other states, rules have been implemented that require all counsel, including pro se litigants, to include a statement or disclaimer on their filings that indicate that AI was used in the drafting of the documents. 

What does this mean for employers?  Employers should brace themselves for more litigation and complaints from employees.  When an employee can easily request AI to draft a complaint for them and that complaint is based solely on the employee’s recitation of the “facts” to the AI provider, there is no limit on the number of complaints that can be made.  Employers are fully aware that there are many different kinds of employees  -those who are hard workers, dedicated to their jobs and deferential to employers and those who are naturally disgruntled, always looking for an angle or a way to beat the system.  The second type of employee can use AI to take out all of their discontent on their employer and file numerous complaints and claims at the push of a button. 

To combat this, employers need to make sure that all of their ducks are in a row and they are in the best position possible to defend against such claims.  This means that employers need to proactively ensure that they have the proper policies and procedures in place to defend against specious claims.  Employee handbooks, employer policies, and proper documentation methods are the best defense. In addition, a respectful and supportive work environment where employers establish clear expectations and provide factual and direct performance evaluations can also help avoid employee claims.  myHRcounsel can assist you in navigating the always complex and difficult world of human resources management.