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ARTICLE · 04 SEPTEMBER 2026

Mind The Gap : AI Adoption, Equity And Thinking Skills At Stake

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr
Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr
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Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) is one of the largest full-service business law firms in South Africa,...

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An AI expert in legal technology examines her discomfort with the title and explores a concerning pattern emerging in the adoption of GenAI tools. The analysis reveals troubling disparities across race and gender lines in how legal professionals are engaging with artificial intelligence technologies.

South AfricaStrategy
Eugene Bester
Eugene Bester

When I describe myself as an arti cial intelligence (AI) expert in the legal technology space, I inch. It’s not that I doubt my abilities, or worry that my team and I aren’t delivering an excellent end-to-end service: from sourcing and developing GenAI tools and piloting and implementing them to transforming knowledge management (KM) into a high impact, revenue-generating function and championing the adoption of new technologies and ways of working. We are doing that, and more. So, why am I uncomfortable calling myself an expert? Why am I seeing a troubling skew in the take-up and use of AI tools across race and gender lines?

IT’S UP TO EACH OF US, INDIVIDUALLY, NOT TO ALLOW OUR OWN UNDERSTANDING AND SKILLS TO BE SUBVERTED BY THE EASY ACCESS THESE GENAI TOOLS PROVIDE.

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