AI In Estate Planning: Limitations And Risks

How AI Works

AI generates responses by processing large quantities of data from the internet, including websites, novels, blogs, and social media platforms. While this provides a foundational understanding of the technology, grasping these basics is essential to determine whether AI should be used to create an estate plan.

Why This Matters

An estate plan represents one of the most personal legal undertakings a person can pursue. It is highly individualized, and rarely do two estates share identical characteristics. Clients maintain various intentions regarding how their assets should be distributed, often driven by personal beliefs rather than logical conventions. Preferences vary regarding incapacity management, pet care, end-of-life decisions, and countless other considerations.

While AI or software programs can pose relevant questions, they cannot evaluate clients the way an experienced attorney does through proactive investigation and inquiry.

For these reasons, AI frequently struggles with highly individualized questions. AI performs best with generalizations, as it aggregates data broadly. This concern intensifies if the user lacks AI proficiency. It is commonly stated in AI communities that “an AI is only as good as the questions it’s asked.”

AI Accuracy

Most users likely report vastly different experiences regarding AI accuracy. Some point to varying accuracy levels across different AI versions or programs. Based on practical experience, accuracy often correlates with subject matter. More general questions yield greater precision, while legal nuances and gray areas present the greatest accuracy challenges.

Like most observers, AI will probably become increasingly accurate over time. However, the critical question remains: will accuracy ever become sufficient to rely upon for your estate? Even at 99% accuracy, that remaining 1% could prove decisive. Importantly, AI bears no legal duty to users, whereas attorneys remain accountable for their work.

What Can’t AI Do

Estate planning extends beyond simple document creation. Many actions require individuals with legal expertise to administer an estate plan properly. Examples include creating and recording deeds, preparing supplemental required documents, assigning an LLC to a trust, or transferring a mobile home to a trust. Countless additional actions depend on the specific plan and require human involvement. Even as AI advances, these capabilities will remain beyond its reach.

Other AI Concerns

AI, like other internet tools, is vulnerable to data and privacy breaches. This concern intensifies because estate planning data proves particularly sensitive, often documenting intimate life details. Additionally, AI remains in its infancy, and circumstances could shift significantly. Legal professionals express concerns about AI’s data-gathering methodology, which relies on others’ internet information. How copyright considerations might reshape AI remains uncertain.

Recommended AI Uses

Within the legal field, AI proves useful for gaining baseline knowledge about legal questions or concepts. Similar to a Google search but often with greater precision, as it directly answers your inquiry. A popular approach involves asking AI to explain complex legal concepts as if explaining to a young child. However, exercise caution: AI remains highly inaccurate.

Seek AI tools that can verify their sources. Legal questions posed to AI frequently produce incorrect responses. If you intend to rely on important legal information, avoid depending on AI or its sources due to internet misinformation prevalence. Your most reliable approach involves verification through an accountable attorney or authoritative sources like legal statutes you can confidently interpret.

Summary

Since estate planning demands highly individualized solutions, AI may struggle with unique circumstances given how it aggregates internet data. While AI will advance, considerable time may pass, if ever, before accuracy reaches levels warranting reliance for your estate, given AI’s lack of accountability.

Perhaps most overlooked is what must occur for proper estate plan administration. Even with AI advancement, navigating bureaucratic requirements involving manual paperwork filing, notary coordination, CPA communication, and numerous other human-dependent actions remains impossible for AI. Therefore, using AI to draft an estate plan is not recommended.