NBER RCT: AI Drafting Assistant Boosts Patent Lawyers' Output, Juniors Gain Most
krishnan · x · 2026-10-30
krishnan shares key findings from an NBER working paper on AI and expertise.
- A three-month randomized trial across 11 US firms gave 133 patent lawyers varying access to an AI drafting assistant.
- AI access improved draft quality, with larger gains among junior lawyers.
- The paper's core distinction: producing better output with AI is not the same as having better judgment without it — raising the apprenticeship question of who becomes the next expert when AI does the work people used to learn from.
Related event: NBER RCT: AI Assistant Improves Lawyers' Output but Not Judgment(2 posts)→
More from AGI Musings
- ChatGPT lands on tech tree's central trunk with Google and iPhone; Facebook and TikTok called side branches — NathanpmYoung · 2026-10-30
- Reddit user maps how a productive AI chat can slide into "AI psychosis" — Individual_Visit_756 · 2026-10-30
- "Aligned with whom?": sharp blog essay argues big AI labs can't be trusted with AI morality — mimi10v3 · 2026-10-30
- Toward a cyborgism research agenda: finding human blueprints for the AGI race — repligate · 2026-10-30
- Silicon Valley buzz: security researchers will soon out-earn AI researchers — Yuchenj_UW · 2026-10-30
- "Lab employees have power only because you are useful — and that won't last," warns researcher — nabla_theta · 2026-10-30