RCT of 133 patent lawyers: AI boosts junior output but fails to build underlying judgment
rohanpaul_ai · x · 2026-09-22
A three-month randomized trial with 133 patent lawyers across 11 US IP firms found AI-assisted drafting improved output for everyone, with juniors gaining the most (+0.58 and +0.60 SD at 10 and 90 days, vs +0.30 SD for seniors). But when AI was removed for a judgment-heavy redlining task, the pattern reversed: seniors who had used AI scored +0.45 SD over controls while juniors showed essentially no gain (-0.03 SD). AI makes junior professionals look better without making them better at underlying judgment.
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