CBA Record November-December 2025

Chicago Bar Foundation Report

AI Overwhelm—What Now? By Bob Glaves

O n any given day in 2025, you can read or hear that AI is turning our brains to mush; it is coming for our jobs; it could soon mean the end of humanity—or no, it could actually lead us to nirvana; and, closer to home for our work at the CBF, it could be the solution for access to justice. Add in that all these broad pronouncements also carry a high B.S. quotient, and the default response for most of us is to just tune it out and move on. But there is enough truth in each of these over-the-top statements that we should take some practical steps to help cut through the noise and respond more constructively. For each of the broad statements I started this article with, I am going to briefly assess the threat or promise level and assign a score (admittedly subjective) of between one and four emojis to represent how fearful or excited we should be. I will follow with a few takeaways for each category, and then some broader sugges tions for response. This one has some legs, I think. Just look at the number of teens (and adults) who we already see glued to their phones. The algo rithms driving that trend should be our first warning sign. With ChatGPT and other AI models making it easier and more tempting every day to offload our critical thinking skills, if we are not careful, AI has the growing potential to reshape our brains in ways we are going to want back. Critical thinking may be our most important currency in the legal profession and as human beings generally. It will become Is AI turning our brains to mush?

even more essential as we encounter whole new levels of fraud and fakery that bad actors working with AI are already starting to unleash. This is not to say we should not be using AI at all, just to be thoughtful about how we go about it. In other words, don’t let AI do your thinking for you; use it to help organize your thoughts

and expand your own thinking. Is AI coming for our jobs?

For most of us in the legal profession, it is unlikely that AI is coming for our jobs, but it definitely is coming for many of the everyday tasks we have long associated with the practice of law and the day-to-day functioning of the court system. That said, we should not overestimate the effects on the uniquely human qualities of good lawyers. And there are many new opportunities likely to develop as a result of AI, as some of the old ways we have taken for granted go by the wayside. So yes, some big changes are likely coming because of AI, but if we focus on the fundamentals of what good lawyers have always done, it could be a good thing.

Is AI coming for humanity? 1/2

The idea that AI actually could take over our lives, of course, sounds nuts, but there are enough unknown and potentially uncontrollable factors that many of the people leading the AI charge are sounding the alarm. Even Da Pope is weighing in!

16 November/December 2025