**The AI Lawyer Revolution: Has the Game Changed?**
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the rapid advancements in AI capabilities. Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about Mercor’s benchmark testing the AI broker’s ability to tackle tasks like legal and corporate analysis. To be honest, the results were underwhelming – both major labs scored below 25%, leading me to think that lawyers were still safe from AI displacement.
But, as we all know, AI can change fast. And boy, has it changed. The recent release of Anthropic’s Opus 4.6 has sent shockwaves through the leaderboards. This new model has notched a rating of just under 30% in one-shot trials and a median of 45% with a few extra attempts. And to make things even more interesting, it’s packed with some fancy new features like “agent swarms” which might be contributing to its improved performance on multi-step issues.
So, what does this mean for lawyers? Honestly, I’m not saying they should start worrying about their jobs just yet. Thirty percent is still a long way from 100%, but it’s a significant jump from the previous state-of-the-art. Mercor CEO Brendan Foody summed it up well: “Jumping from 18.4% to 29.8% in a few months is insane.”
While AI brokers are still far from replacing lawyers, this latest development should give them some pause. They may need to start considering embracing AI tools and learning to work alongside them, rather than viewing them as a threat.
This breakthrough could signal the beginning of a new era in legal practice. As AI capabilities continue to evolve, lawyers may need to adapt and find ways to work in tandem with these intelligent machines. It’s not about replacing lawyers, but about augmenting their abilities and making their work more efficient.
I’m curious to see where this journey takes us. Will we see a future where AI takes over more mundane tasks, freeing lawyers up to focus on the high-level stuff? Or will we see a hybrid approach, where humans and AI work together to tackle even the most complex legal issues?
**Read the full story** here on TechCrunch to learn more about the latest developments in AI law. And let me know in the comments – what do you think this means for the future of the legal profession?
