By Louis Goss
PwC has struck a deal to start using an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to speed up work in its tax and legal divisions as the world’s top professional services firms increasingly look towards tech to boost efficiency.
The accounting firm’s initial 12-month contract with San Francisco startup Harvey will see all 4,000 staff in PwC’s global legal business gain immediate access to the company’s AI chatbot that it developed off the back of OpenAI’s GPT technology.
PwC will also seek to work out ways it might begin using the specialist lawtech tool to speed up work and boost the efficiency in its tax division.
The AI tech will be used to “generate insights, recommendations, and predictions based on large volumes of data, delivering richer information and solutions faster,” PwC said in a statement.
Carol Stubbings, PwC UK global tax & legal services leader, said: “Harvey’s AI solution marks a huge shift in the way that tax and legal services will be delivered and consumed across the industry.
The Big Four firm, however, noted that any work carried out by the AI tool will be “overseen and reviewed” by PwC’s human staff.
The accounting giant’s decision to start using Harvey, through its deal with the San Francisco startup that shares its name with the technology, will see it become the first Big Four firm to take up the tool.
In striking its “strategic alliance” with Harvey, PwC will also seek to begin developing its own proprietary AI models, using the California startup’s tech, which it hopes to begin marketing to clients.
The accounting firm’s deal follows Magic Circle law firm Allen & Overy’s decision last month to give the Harvey tech to more than 3,500 of its lawyers across all 43 of its offices.
Increasing use of AI tools in the professional services sector comes as law firms and accounting firms are now seeking to boost efficiency by using tech in the face of the global economic downturn.
Advancements in AI have seen law firms look towards tech to boost efficiency in their delivery of services as fierce competition for talent has pushed up the costs they face in recruiting and retaining workers.
Developed by startup Harvey, on the back of OpenAI’s GPT tech, the AI tool uses specially trained language models to automate basic legal tasks.
PwC’s announcement comes as OpenAI yesterday launched a new version of its GPT technology, GPT4, which the Silicon Valley company said is able to pass the US bar exam with a score equivalent to those achieved by the top 10 per cent of test takers.
OpenAI’s previous GPT model, GPT3.5, by contrast, achieved a score equivalent to those obtained by the bottom 10 per cent of exam takers.
The launch of Harvey’s own specialist legal chatbot came after the startup received $5m worth of funding from OpenAI’s startup investment fund.
PwC’s announcement follows news that major firms including banking giant JP Morgan and City law firm Mishcon de Reya have banned staff from using ChatGPT over privacy concerns.
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