“Polycrisis” became a buzzword on day one of the World Economic Forum’s annual summit in Davos this year, describing the simultaneous and compounding crises affecting the world today. Though not without its controversy, the term has been effective in capturing and validating the mood of the moment. From the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine to the cost-of-living crisis and rising number of climate-related disasters, the challenges we face are persistent and wide-ranging.
In light of recent headlines surrounding the potential of artificial intelligence to drive transformation across all industries, it was unsurprising that this next-generation technology was the focus of many discussions regarding how to tackle the challenges posed by the polycrisis. After all, AI is evolving at a breakneck pace with recent advancements like DALL-E and ChatGPT and is already impacting the way we deal with everything from healthcare to climate change.
With IBM reporting last year that 42% of global businesses are planning to embed AI into their current applications and processes, it is clear that AI represents the future of work to many (pg. 7). One profession that simply cannot afford to be left behind is law. In times of such extreme uncertainty, there is little telling what geopolitical or economic crisis lies just around the corner. And yet, this is precisely what many legal departments are expected to do on behalf of their organizations: anticipate risk and protect, to the fullest extent possible, against financial or reputational damage.
Fulfilling this responsibility is no simple task when the fallout from successive global shocks has been so profound. Business uncertainty and legal risk are at an all-time high due to geopolitical conflict, supply chain instability and global recession warnings. Many suppliers and customers have consequently sought to renegotiate or terminate contracts in order to cut costs, leaving legal teams scrambling to assess their business’s contractual obligations and safeguard commercial relationships.
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