Ed. note: This article was first published in an ILTA publication.
Artificial intelligence is much more than the latest new tool to hit lawyers’ desks. This era seems different from previous technological waves. Just as the Internet started as a novelty and grew into critical infrastructure, today AI is leading us toward another platform shift. It is not a separate product, but a new level that shapes the way almost all legal tasks are or can be performed.
As someone who teaches and is a member of the Vanderbilt Artificial Intelligence Law Lab (VAILL), I am privileged to help prepare the next generation for our profession. VAILL has become both a model and a hub for what teaching AI in law schools can look like. Our work is not limited to training students to navigate specific platforms. We equip them with AI knowledge, awareness of blending tools, soft skills, critical thinking, ethical foundations and adaptability. These are the skills future lawyers and legal leaders need to thrive in legal environments subject to rapid and unprecedented change.
Vanderbilt’s approach and VAILL’s role
Vanderbilt Law School embraced this change with a bold commitment to create VAILL and prioritize a human-centered approach to exploring how AI intersects with law and legal education.
Through VAILL and our broader program, we create and launch courses that directly address students’ AI education needs. Our approach is to introduce them to the types of tools they are most likely to encounter in practice, explore the impact of generative AI and reshape workflows, and empower them to engage with AI as informed professionals who can interact with it with confidence.
For example, one course empowers students to act as decision-makers by evaluating tools, developing implementation strategies, and addressing practical challenges related to data security and company policies. Most importantly, our courses help students understand the risks and benefits and how these tools will complement their future practice more broadly.
If law schools now neglect the teaching of AI, they are doing their students a disservice. The myth of the “digital native” can lead us to believe that younger generations intuitively understand technology. In fact, I regularly see students who can easily navigate TikTok, but struggle to understand why an AI tool might hallucinate legal citations or not understand the ethical implications of feeding customer data into ChatGPT. Law students learn AI at the same pace as everyone else. Waiting until they arrive at a company to figure it out may be too late. There is positive momentum as law schools rise to the occasion, with AI-related courses increasing each year.
Defining AI Mastery
When I teach my students about AI, I emphasize that it goes beyond knowing which buttons to click on the latest writing assistant or search bot. True literacy encompasses understanding the fundamental concepts underlying technology, the ability to evaluate results, the ability to adapt to evolving tools, and awareness of the ethical and professional duties that accompany its use.
Our students will continue to work in a variety of settings, but we want them to have a clear idea of the role technology will play wherever they land. What I learned is that mastering AI is about understanding a tool’s place in workflows, anticipating risks, and imagining new possibilities. Once we know what is possible, strategic thinking becomes more accessible. Our students are ready to identify the “possible” and be spokespersons for innovation.
Accepting student uncertainty boosts engagement
When students talk about the use of AI, their reactions often mirror those of the profession: a mix of skepticism, anxiety, and curiosity. Some are understandably worried. After all, they invest three years and substantial tuition in legal education, only to read headlines predicting that AI will automate their jobs. We are happy to help alleviate these fears.
But what strikes me most is that these skeptical students are also the ones who voluntarily enroll in our courses and engage deeply with them. Our goal is not to train AI advocates, but rather to train future lawyers who can think critically about when and how to effectively deploy these tools. Students want to understand what awaits them rather than fear it. Education becomes the antidote to uncertainty.
Students returning from summer jobs also regularly tell us that AI is present in their company, but often without clear policies, structured training, or consistent implementation. This lack of direction can leave young lawyers unsure of how to contribute or engage responsibly. By equipping them with frameworks for evaluating tools and understanding ethical obligations, we prepare them not only to use AI, but also to lead conversations about its role in practice.
Law students, future leaders
We hope that this leadership will emerge sooner than expected. Our students are exposed to AI knowledge in a way that graduates of just a few years ago never were. This positions them to take on significant roles in business innovation and governance much earlier in their careers.
I don’t subscribe to the idea that AI would reduce the need for new associates. Who will become associates and principal partners if we cut the pipeline? Instead, I view AI as an opportunity to reframe what early practice looks like. Rather than spending their first years bogged down in repetitive but necessary tasks, employees will be able to concentrate sooner on enriching intellectual work.
In some ways, this could help students become better lawyers faster. This shift could accelerate their growth by channeling their energy toward the uniquely human aspects of practice, such as strategic thinking, creative problem solving, and nuanced advice to clients. They will still learn the basics, but without being defined by rote work that technology can now handle. This is a profound change in the way lawyers receive on-the-job training.
I hope partners understand and adapt to this change, engaging new associates in a different way than in the past. We’ve long operated on the principle of “do more with less,” but AI flips that scenario for new associates, allowing them to learn greater skills while spending less time on repetitive tasks.
In five to ten years, I imagine law schools will empower students to innovate in ways that were previously impossible. For the first time, non-technical students can imagine, design and even create tools to serve their firm or their clients. I’m already seeing students prototyping simple legal workflows using no-code platforms or designing AI-assisted client intake processes. AI is lowering the barriers to legal innovation, and that should excite us all.
A shared mission
If I could leave readers with one message, it would be this: Preparing the next generation of AI-competent lawyers is not a solitary mission. Law schools across the country are doing their part, but the journey requires collaboration with firms, technologists, and professional organizations to realize its full potential. Our goal is not to produce graduate students who know how to use a tool, but rather to produce professionals who can lead in a world where technology will constantly evolve and prove essential for competent representation. Companies must continually educate their employees through clear policies, hands-on training, and an environment that promotes openness to exploration and experimentation.
At VAILL, we are committed to equipping students not only to survive in an AI-enabled profession, but also to shape it.
And for those already practicing, the lesson is clear: be open to learning from new members of your teams. Their knowledge of AI will help your business cope with the coming changes.
T. Kyle Turner is Associate Director for Emerging Technologies and Digital Initiatives at Vanderbilt Law School, where he is a member of the Vanderbilt Artificial Intelligence Law Lab (VAILL). His work focuses on legal technology, mastering AI, and preparing students and practitioners to engage with AI ethically and effectively.
