We kicked off our first AI Peer Group meeting this month, and it was fantastic to see so many members join the conversation. Thank you to everyone who participated, asked questions, and shared real-world experiences.
Are We in an AI Bubble?
Our discussion opened with an important question: Are we in an AI bubble?
The consensus: Yes
Here’s why:
A bubble forms when capital is mispriced relative to the actual value being created. Today, several forces suggest we’re in that territory:
- Excess funding is chasing weak moats
- Narratives are outpacing reality
- Misalignment between cost and utility
- Expectations are unrealistic, creating pressure that doesn’t match the technology’s current maturity
These points shaped a lively conversation about where AI is delivering meaningful value and where it still overpromises.
Poll Highlights
These responses show a clear trend: AI expectations are rising across legal departments, even if mandates aren’t fully defined.
Discussion Highlights
Where is AI not living up to expectations?
One participant shared that demos don’t tell the whole story. Demos showcase polished potential, but implementing AI tools is a heavy lift. It often requires significant resources and, in many cases, a complete overhaul of existing processes and workflows.
Where is AI proving useful today?
Despite the hype, members highlighted meaningful wins:
- Contract review
- Playbook development and execution
- Extracting and normalizing text-based data
- Search and Q&A functionality across contract repositories
- SWOT analysis for strategic insights
These use cases show where AI’s value is clearest today: structured, repeatable, text-heavy tasks.
Which AI use cases feel overhyped?
A few themes rose to the top:
- Anything involving numbers: AI struggles with even basic calculations, let alone complex data extraction or structuring.
- Legal research: “It’s so confidently wrong,” as one member put it, illustrating the risks of unreliable outputs in high-stakes matters.
Thank You
We’re grateful to everyone who joined us for this first meeting. Your candor, questions, and shared experiences are exactly what will make the AI Peer Group valuable for the broader community.
We look forward to continuing these conversations in future sessions!
Join the AI Peer Group here.
