{"id":155000,"date":"2026-06-17T15:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/17\/lessons-from-interstate-highways-ais-impact-on-legal-is-a-known-unknown\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T15:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:52:12","slug":"lessons-from-interstate-highways-ais-impact-on-legal-is-a-known-unknown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/17\/lessons-from-interstate-highways-ais-impact-on-legal-is-a-known-unknown\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons From Interstate Highways: AI\u2019s Impact On Legal Is A Known Unknown"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run. \u2014 <\/em>Amara\u2019s Law<\/a><\/p>\n

Lots of predictions and prognostications are going around these days about how AI will impact legal. But if our experience with, of all things, interstate highways is any indication, the truth of the matter is we really don\u2019t know. All we know for sure is that it is a known unknown.<\/p>\n

Life Is An (Interstate) Highway<\/strong><\/p>\n

I thought about this when I read a recent article<\/a> in USA Today by Leslie D. Rose<\/a> on the 70th anniversary of the interstate highway system. That system was built as a connected road network mainly at the urging of the army for national defense purposes.<\/p>\n

But rather than remaining primarily a tool for the military, the system quickly morphed in ways that had far-reaching impacts. Impacts that no one ever even thought of at the time and weren\u2019t realized till years later.<\/p>\n

We Never Saw What Was Coming<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chief among those was the impact on trucking and the delivery of goods. According to the sources quoted in the article, before interstates, trucks were primarily used for local pickup of goods or travel. But with interstates, it became easier and cheaper to ship goods across the country to coastal ports. That in turn created our modern trucking industry in which goods are constantly shipped anywhere and everywhere by semi-trailer trucks. Indeed, drive on any interstate today, and you will see almost as many, if not more, semis than cars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The interstate system created long-haul trucking that, in turn, enabled things like just-in-time supply concepts, which altered many of our manufacturing systems. Interstates fundamentally changed commercial transportation and everything that used it. No one saw that one coming.<\/p>\n

Or think of this. It changed our perception of time and distance, said other sources cited in the article. Before interstates, 50 miles was a long trip. Now it\u2019s a relatively short commute. Interstates helped fuel the growth of suburbs and of living a ways from work. It changed how and where we took our vacations. It reduced reliance on public transportation and turned us into a car culture. I bet few saw all that 70 years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Dark Side<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course there was a dark side. Again, quoting experts, the article pointed out that the routing of the interstates was often through areas that had little political power. That destroyed, divided, and displaced entire poorer neighborhoods. It also connected some communities and divided others, with many of the latter withering away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And smaller communities and businesses that used to dot local roads were locked out as drivers flocked to the more efficient and faster interstates. The result: more antiseptic landscapes, fewer local businesses, a rural America and small town culture lost. Too many small towns have become virtual ghost towns with declining populations and rampant drug use.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So What\u2019s This Have To Do With Legal?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the impacts of something as analog and seemingly predictable as four-lane highways can\u2019t be foreseen, what does that mean for something as complex and far reaching as AI?\u00a0<\/p>\n

We today ruminate on the profound impact AI is having on legal. But the more profound impacts will likely not be seen till much later. And those impacts may be even greater and far reaching.<\/p>\n

So we can draw some lessons from what happened as a result of the interstates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not farfetched to believe, for example, that AI will drive new ways of delivering legal services that we haven\u2019t even seen or thought of yet. Just as the interstates did for trucking. And those new ways could and will fundamentally alter the entire legal ecosystem with ripples across the judiciary, what it means to be a lawyer, and even how businesses solve problems and get things done.<\/p>\n

Certainly it is not hard to see how AI will alter the way we think of time needed to be spent handling legal matters, how that time is measured, and how it is valued. Just like 50 miles seems a small distance today, the idea of things like of a 2-week trial or a month-long arbitration may become forgotten relics of the past as new forms of adjudication are created. Indeed, the whole notion of how we resolve disputes could be forever altered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But there will be costs. Firms and lawyers who can\u2019t afford AI tools may be marginalized. Those who are not tech savvy will lose out. It\u2019s conceivable that megafirms that maximize the use of AI will replace more and more lawyers in smaller communities, creating even more legal deserts.<\/p>\n

And just like with the advent of interstates, an entire culture may be lost. When I was growing up in a small town, it was the lawyers who served on school and community boards and participated in and led local government. Many of these billed by the hour and every now and then got a contingency fee case that made their year. Already many of those contingency fee cases are gobbled up by national firms. And the local businesses that paid those billable hours are disappearing. So who will be left to lead local communities if these lawyers and their practices wither?\u00a0<\/p>\n

When we think of local lawyers we think of the lawyer so romantically and heroically portrayed by Atticus Finch. The lawyer who practiced, lived and cared about the local community. But AI could hasten the loss of the Atticus Finches of the world and its culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The law has already moved far beyond being a \u201clearned profession\u201d to a business just like any other. What little is left of the profession concept and the culture that grew out of it \u2014 the collegial atmosphere and loyalty to firms that creates the culture \u2014 could disappear entirely.<\/p>\n

The Known Unknown<\/strong><\/p>\n

But there I go, trying to predict the unpredictable like everyone else. The truth is we don\u2019t know what the lasting impact of AI will be. Those impacts are the true unknowns and trying to say we can predict and see them now is a little silly. What is predictable though is that, just like Amara envisioned, we are overestimating AI\u2019s impact right now and underestimating its impact down the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The best we can do is not lock ourselves into beliefs about what the future will inevitably hold and not be blind to the realities. Those that are open to see opportunities will be the future truckers of the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The rest will be left standing by the side of the road wondering what the hell happened.<\/p>\n

\n

Stephen Embry is a lawyer, speaker, blogger, and writer. He publishes\u00a0TechLaw Crossroads<\/a>, a blog devoted to the examination of the tension between technology, the law, and the practice of law.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Lessons From Interstate Highways: AI\u2019s Impact On Legal Is A Known Unknown<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run. \u2014 <\/em>Amara\u2019s Law<\/a><\/p>\n

Lots of predictions and prognostications are going around these days about how AI will impact legal. But if our experience with, of all things, interstate highways is any indication, the truth of the matter is we really don\u2019t know. All we know for sure is that it is a known unknown.<\/p>\n

Life Is An (Interstate) Highway<\/strong><\/p>\n

I thought about this when I read a recent article<\/a> in USA Today by Leslie D. Rose<\/a> on the 70th anniversary of the interstate highway system. That system was built as a connected road network mainly at the urging of the army for national defense purposes.<\/p>\n

But rather than remaining primarily a tool for the military, the system quickly morphed in ways that had far-reaching impacts. Impacts that no one ever even thought of at the time and weren\u2019t realized till years later.<\/p>\n

We Never Saw What Was Coming<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chief among those was the impact on trucking and the delivery of goods. According to the sources quoted in the article, before interstates, trucks were primarily used for local pickup of goods or travel. But with interstates, it became easier and cheaper to ship goods across the country to coastal ports. That in turn created our modern trucking industry in which goods are constantly shipped anywhere and everywhere by semi-trailer trucks. Indeed, drive on any interstate today, and you will see almost as many, if not more, semis than cars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The interstate system created long-haul trucking that, in turn, enabled things like just-in-time supply concepts, which altered many of our manufacturing systems. Interstates fundamentally changed commercial transportation and everything that used it. No one saw that one coming.<\/p>\n

Or think of this. It changed our perception of time and distance, said other sources cited in the article. Before interstates, 50 miles was a long trip. Now it\u2019s a relatively short commute. Interstates helped fuel the growth of suburbs and of living a ways from work. It changed how and where we took our vacations. It reduced reliance on public transportation and turned us into a car culture. I bet few saw all that 70 years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Dark Side<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course there was a dark side. Again, quoting experts, the article pointed out that the routing of the interstates was often through areas that had little political power. That destroyed, divided, and displaced entire poorer neighborhoods. It also connected some communities and divided others, with many of the latter withering away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And smaller communities and businesses that used to dot local roads were locked out as drivers flocked to the more efficient and faster interstates. The result: more antiseptic landscapes, fewer local businesses, a rural America and small town culture lost. Too many small towns have become virtual ghost towns with declining populations and rampant drug use.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So What\u2019s This Have To Do With Legal?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the impacts of something as analog and seemingly predictable as four-lane highways can\u2019t be foreseen, what does that mean for something as complex and far reaching as AI?\u00a0<\/p>\n

We today ruminate on the profound impact AI is having on legal. But the more profound impacts will likely not be seen till much later. And those impacts may be even greater and far reaching.<\/p>\n

So we can draw some lessons from what happened as a result of the interstates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not farfetched to believe, for example, that AI will drive new ways of delivering legal services that we haven\u2019t even seen or thought of yet. Just as the interstates did for trucking. And those new ways could and will fundamentally alter the entire legal ecosystem with ripples across the judiciary, what it means to be a lawyer, and even how businesses solve problems and get things done.<\/p>\n

Certainly it is not hard to see how AI will alter the way we think of time needed to be spent handling legal matters, how that time is measured, and how it is valued. Just like 50 miles seems a small distance today, the idea of things like of a 2-week trial or a month-long arbitration may become forgotten relics of the past as new forms of adjudication are created. Indeed, the whole notion of how we resolve disputes could be forever altered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But there will be costs. Firms and lawyers who can\u2019t afford AI tools may be marginalized. Those who are not tech savvy will lose out. It\u2019s conceivable that megafirms that maximize the use of AI will replace more and more lawyers in smaller communities, creating even more legal deserts.<\/p>\n

And just like with the advent of interstates, an entire culture may be lost. When I was growing up in a small town, it was the lawyers who served on school and community boards and participated in and led local government. Many of these billed by the hour and every now and then got a contingency fee case that made their year. Already many of those contingency fee cases are gobbled up by national firms. And the local businesses that paid those billable hours are disappearing. So who will be left to lead local communities if these lawyers and their practices wither?\u00a0<\/p>\n

When we think of local lawyers we think of the lawyer so romantically and heroically portrayed by Atticus Finch. The lawyer who practiced, lived and cared about the local community. But AI could hasten the loss of the Atticus Finches of the world and its culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The law has already moved far beyond being a \u201clearned profession\u201d to a business just like any other. What little is left of the profession concept and the culture that grew out of it \u2014 the collegial atmosphere and loyalty to firms that creates the culture \u2014 could disappear entirely.<\/p>\n

The Known Unknown<\/strong><\/p>\n

But there I go, trying to predict the unpredictable like everyone else. The truth is we don\u2019t know what the lasting impact of AI will be. Those impacts are the true unknowns and trying to say we can predict and see them now is a little silly. What is predictable though is that, just like Amara envisioned, we are overestimating AI\u2019s impact right now and underestimating its impact down the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The best we can do is not lock ourselves into beliefs about what the future will inevitably hold and not be blind to the realities. Those that are open to see opportunities will be the future truckers of the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The rest will be left standing by the side of the road wondering what the hell happened.<\/p>\n

\n

Stephen Embry is a lawyer, speaker, blogger, and writer. He publishes\u00a0TechLaw Crossroads<\/a>, a blog devoted to the examination of the tension between technology, the law, and the practice of law.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Lessons From Interstate Highways: AI\u2019s Impact On Legal Is A Known Unknown<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run. \u2014 Amara\u2019s Law Lots of predictions and prognostications are going around these days about how AI will impact legal. But if our experience with, of all things, interstate highways is any indication, the truth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":155001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AdobeStock_190442185-scaled-chgPMC.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}