Field study: AI boosts junior patent attorneys but may stunt skill growth

A three-month field experiment with 133 patent attorneys found AI improves immediate performance, with junior lawyers gaining most. When the AI was removed, only senior attorneys kept the benefits.

Why it matters: It offers real-world evidence for a worry about AI and apprenticeship: tools that help novices most may not build lasting skill unless the baseline expertise is already there. Firms leaning on AI to lift junior staff may need to rethink training, since the people who gain most may also learn least.