I read with interest journalist Osmond Chia’s article, “More demand for natural language skills amid AI boom” (May 15).

Mr Chia said that the advent of chatbots and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools has increased the demand for people with natural language skills, and not just skills in mathematics and coding.

We are indeed at the cusp of an inflection point – certainly one with ripples into many facets of society.

Just as how the industrial revolution led to a need for new skills relating to the operation of the steam engine, the rise in the use of generative AI will revolutionise the domain of knowledge management, particularly in the legal context.

Beyond Singapore, many international law firms and legal tech start-ups are starting to take keen interest in how such skills might apply in the practice of law.

Knowledge management is a critical part of the day-to-day life of an attorney, and a mastery of prompt engineering could yield amazing results.

One example might include what dispute lawyers often engage in – distilling the convoluted facts of a dispute from legal database searches into key legal points. This thinking translates well into natural language programming, and it is because of this that I believe lawyers, and our local legal industry, are well poised to use generative AI as an aid.

This aligns well with the Government’s national AI strategy, particularly as Singapore gains traction as a top arbitration hub.

I believe the benefits of AI and learning new skills have the potential to make Singapore one of the world’s preferred legal hubs.

Marcus Ho Kan Jie