In
a
move
extending
generative
AI’s
global
reach
in
the
legal
industry,
DISCO
announced
the
launch
of
its
Cecilia
AI
Platform
across
the
European
Union
and
the
UK.
Note
how
we
said,
“European
Union
and
the
UK”
as
opposed
to
just
“European
Union”
there?
The
UK
blew
up
its
whole
economy
just
so
we
have
to
append
its
name
separately!
Brilliant
trade-off.
Alas,
Cecilia
AI
promises
to
streamline
the
data-heavy
lift
of
modern
document
review
and
ediscovery,
aiming
to
turn
days
and
weeks
of
discovery
work
into
hours.
Getting
AI
into
the
hands
of
the
European
market
requires
navigating
Europe’s
complex
regulatory
environment.
The
EU’s
Artificial
Intelligence
Act
erected
a
framework
to
address
the
risks
and
ethical
concerns
posed
by
AI,
introducing
stringent
requirements
on
transparency,
accountability,
and
the
ability
to
explain
AI
decisions.
Satisfying
Europe’s
call
for
visibility
in
AI
decision
making
involves
a
little
extra
work
than
in
the
U.S.,
but
in
addition
to
the
products
launched
this
week,
DISCO
expects
to
have
more
generative
AI
tools
in
that
market
in
2025.
With
this
launch,
DISCO
introduces
Cecilia
Q&A
to
the
European
market.
This
AI
fact
expert
is
fully
integrated
within
a
user’s
DISCO
Ediscovery
database.
Lawyers
can
interrogate
their
document
sets
directly,
receiving
quick,
citation-backed
answers
that
highlight
key
documents
swimming
within
the
terabytes
of
data.
It’s
a
tool
designed
to
put
eyes
on
the
most
important
documents
quickly
and
efficiently.
Or,
if
the
attorney
wants,
there’s
a
single-document
version
of
Q&A
that
limits
the
interrogation
to
one
item.
All
of
which
is
done
without
sourcing
source
information
from
online,
with
answers
limited
to
the
information
within
a
customer’s
specific
database.
Basically
keeping
AI
from
hallucinating
by
cutting
off
access
to
the
internet
shrooms.
And
the
document
summary
function
creates
the
reader’s
digest
version
of
lengthy,
complex
or
important
documents
to
speed
up
the
all-too-familiar
process
of
slogging
through
a
long
document
only
to
realize
it’s
totally
irrelevant.
Which
gets
back
to
the
theme
I
took
away
from
my
ILTACON
meeting
with
DISCO
—
generative
AI’s
most
powerful
application
might
just
be
its
appeal
as
an
interface.
Legal
tech
has
had
the
power
to
deliver
a
lot
of
these
insights
for
a
while.
Providing
material
relevant
to
a
query
or
generating
a
‘Key
Word
In
Context’
style
summary
existed
before.
But
now,
AI’s
ability
to
offer
a
natural,
conversational
interface
—
delivering
coherent,
easily
reviewed
results
—
makes
a
difference.
But
something
about
generative
AI
products
have
proven
more
accessible
to
the
lawyerly
mind.
Personally,
I
think
it’s
the
iterative
nature
of
the
interface.
Prior
technology
could
only
answer
the
most
recent
query
and
left
it
to
the
user
to
figure
out
if
their
prompt
delivered
the
right
result.
Hunting
and
pecking
but
with
inquiries.
Generative
AI
learns
from
its
interactions
with
the
user
mimicking
the
back-and-forth
between
a
partner
and
associate
and
improving
the
results
incrementally.
This
dynamic
interface
feels
more
intuitive
to
lawyers,
who
are
used
to
a
process
of
refining
insights
through
dialogue.
And
occasionally
yelling.
Whatever
it
is,
studies
reveal
that
these
AI
tools
have
brought
many
senior
attorneys
to
technology
for
the
first
time
when
they
would
historically
farm
that
work
out
to
juniors
or
outside
providers.
It
will
be
interesting
to
see
if
the
European
and
UK
contingent
follow
their
American
counterparts
in
embracing
this
tech.
Because
technology
is
only
useful
if
it
gets
used.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.