I’ve been a lawyer for 27 years and not a week goes by where I’m not pitched something from someone. For years it’s mostly been lead generators (I never use them) or support staff help like remote answering services. The latest is about once a week an AI (artificial intelligence) company emails me trying to get me to use their services to “make my practice easier.”

I don’t believe AI is going to take over for lawyers, mostly because of the human element and the ability to really analyze things. I did watch a presentation on AI and do believe a lot of lawyers can use it to draft emails. One presenter said you could use it to write blog posts. I was skeptical as I don’t think it can write in my style which is plain English and I don’t think it will know what it’s talking about.

So I went on ChatGPT and asked it to write a blog post about FedEx, Illinois work comp and the role of third party administrators. This is what it said and my thoughts:

In Illinois, there’s been a lot of talk about workers’ comp cases involving FedEx. These cases show how workers who get hurt on the job can struggle to get what they need to recover. Sometimes they’re not treated fairly, especially when big companies like FedEx are involved. Ok, this sounds like a high school kid writing a paper at the last minute. No explanation as to why you aren’t treated fairly or how you’d struggle.

When someone gets hurt at work, they can file for workers’ comp. That means they can get help with things like medical bills and money if they can’t work because of their injury. But dealing with workers’ comp can be tricky, especially when companies hire other companies to handle the claims for them. This is mostly correct even if it’s poorly written.

FedEx, being a big company, does this. They hire someone else, called a third-party administrator, to take care of workers’ comp stuff. These third-party people look into the claims, decide how much money injured workers should get, and handle the payments. But some folks think that these third-party people don’t always do what’s right. They might try to save money for FedEx by giving injured workers less money than they need. This can make things tough for the workers who are just trying to get back on their feet after an injury. This paragraph shows how far ChatGPT has to go. Third party administrators are companies that process work comp claims for self insured companies. They don’t get to decide how much you get.

For people hurt on the job at FedEx in Illinois, dealing with these third-party folks can make things even more complicated. It’s hard enough trying to get the help you need when you’re hurt, but when there are other companies involved, it can get even messier. Again, no explanation as to they make it complicated or the difference between them and a regular insurance company.

Even though it can be tough, people hurt on the job in Illinois still have rights. They can get help from lawyers who know about workers’ comp laws. These lawyers can make sure injured workers are treated fairly and get the money and support they deserve to get better. This is correct, but again sounds like it’s a high school paper.

Notice they didn’t mention anything about the types of injuries FedEx workers get. That’s because we didn’t give them a prompt to write about that. They can’t think independently or critically it doesn’t seem.

Bottom line is that I don’t see ChatGPT replacing the blog posts we write. But if your kid has a high school paper due in ten minutes and just needs to submit something, maybe this is the place to go.