January 2026 by Cliff McKinney |
In the 1983 movie WarGames, a young computer hacker accidentally accesses a United States military supercomputer programmed to run nuclear war simulations. The computer greets him with the question, “Shall we play a game?” and offers a list of choices. Instead of selecting something harmless like chess or checkers, the hacker chooses global thermonuclear war. Believing he has discovered a new game, he begins “playing” without realizing that his moves could launch real missiles. The world is brought to the brink of nuclear conflict because the machine’s simulations were mistaken for reality. The crisis is only averted when the hacker learns how to talk to the computer on its own terms, guiding it to realize that global nuclear war is a game that no one can win.
Four decades after WarGames, lawyers are now facing similar challenges of learning to use and communicate with artificial intelligence – hopefully without destroying the world. Artificial intelligence tools, such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, are quickly becoming incorporated into legal practice. These systems can draft documents, perform analysis, and support other legal tasks. While lawyers adjust to these new technologies, courts and regulatory authorities are actively developing appropriate frameworks to guide and supervise the use of these tools within the sector.
The above is an excerpt of an article published in January 2026 in Arkansas Law Notes. This is the first installment of a nine-part series on the use of artificial intelligence in the legal profession. You may click the link below to read the full article.
A managing member of Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC, Cliff McKinney speaks nationwide on the rapidly evolving role of AI in law practice, covering cutting-edge tools, prompt engineering, ethical obligations, risk management, and actionable strategies lawyers can implement immediately. He has presented for organizations including the American Bar Association (ABA) and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA), and has written extensively on AI for ACMA, USLAW, and the Arkansas Law Review. Mr. McKinney holds a Prompt Engineering Specialization certification from Vanderbilt University and is a Fellow of both the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.