NBER RCT: AI drafting assistant boosts junior patent lawyers' output but not judgment
krishnan · x · 2026-10-30
An NBER working paper (w35720, Google-funded) by David Autor et al. ran a pre-registered 3-month RCT with 133 patent lawyers at 11 US firms. AI access raised draft quality (0.34–0.38 SD, largest gains for juniors), but on a no-AI judgment task only senior lawyers outperformed controls (0.45 SD); juniors showed no average gain—scores bifurcated, with fewer mediocre outcomes but more poor and more good ones. Foundational expertise may be a prerequisite for durable skill gains from AI-assisted practice.
Related event: NBER RCT: AI Assistant Improves Lawyers' Output but Not Judgment(2 posts)→
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