Conversations about adopting AI often include a concept known as “the human element”. That bit of creativity, ability to map abstract concepts to reality, and the solving of problems in a creative manner that only the human mind is capable of. Keep this human element in mind as you consider using an AI-generated contract template. While it contains the necessary heading and signature spaces, does it take into account all the laws and regulation required for the agreement you are making? Just to be sure, consider having a lawyer look at it before you send the document off for signature. Saving a few thousand upfront could cost you hundreds of thousands down the road.
Inviting your corporate lawyer to the conversation is an invitation to ensure that you are not sitting in one country with a contract that references laws from another country-simply because that’s what was in the Large Language Model (read database) that your AI had access to. Or maybe you end up missing out important regulations that are a pre-requisite for your industry.
Aside from artfully dropping Latin phrases into conversations, these legal eagles also remember cases related to your particular situation, the correct regulations to help you prepare for potential eventualities, and keep their fingers on the pulse of discussions pertaining to laws that have not yet been enacted. It is a much better option to sit around a boardroom with lawyers throwing words at each other over a contractual negotiation than to have to endure the action in court while trying to avoid a hefty regulatory fine.
However, once you have included the right sections and sub-sections in your contracts, it is important to ensure that these are adhered to. This requires that information be filtered down to all levels where it needs to be implemented and to all individuals who are affected by it. Failure to do this can result in some nasty lessons, such as was the case with Frontex. Frontex is the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. The data it collects is used to fight border crime and monitor migratory trends. However in 2024 it was reprimanded by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) for unnecessarily sharing data without ensuring that data integrity checks had been adequately carried out. This meant that although the data sharing contracts were in place on a surface level, the implementation of data requirements within the organization had not been properly carried out.
When putting contracts in place therefore, include your legal teams and those who will be affected by the frameworks that are ultimately agreed to. This will ensure that your organization complies with requirements at all levels. Find out more about how to do this by diving into chapter 3 of “Managing IT Suppliers: A Practical Guide to Vendor Management“.
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