Google study shows AI improves patent drafting scores, senior lawyers gain judgment
A three‑month randomized trial involving 133 patent attorneys at eleven IP firms tested a then‑unreleased Google Labs AI patent‑writing assistant, now part of Gemini Notebook. Participants were split into treatment (early AI access) and control (training only) groups. Drafting performance rose at both 10‑day and 90‑day checkpoints, with scores increasing 0.34 and 0.38 standard deviations…
Key points
- AI access raised drafting scores by 0.34 SD after 10 days and 0.38 SD after 90 days
- Senior lawyers without AI on a redlining task outperformed peers by 0.45 SD, juniors showed no gain
- Junior lawyers saved 18 minutes on drafting but their judgment scores did not improve
When the AI tool was removed for a 90‑day redlining task that measured unassisted judgment, senior lawyers who had used the assistant outperformed controls by 0.45 standard deviations (a 13‑point percentile lift). Junior lawyers showed no average improvement; their scores spread, producing more very low and more good results but no rise in excellence. The study notes that while AI can accelerate routine output, it does not automatically translate into lasting expertise for less‑experienced professionals.
The authors caution that short‑term productivity gains may mask longer‑term skill erosion, especially for junior staff, and call for further research to separate tool effects from genuine skill development.
Does better work always mean better workers?
Google Research · 7 October 2026
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