For decades, crafting contracts would fall on a lawyer, paralegal, or anyone willing to burn midnight oil to meet a deadline. It’s an important role, as that legwork would serve as the key for turning handshakes into deals and give business relationships their legal backbone, but the way that those agreements take shape has changed.
Across law offices, startups, and even kitchen tables, professionals are letting artificial intelligence take a swing at things. Writers who would agonize over hours of drafting, reviewing, and editing contracts now use ChatGPT, Claude, and other LLMS to speed up the pace.
A new study from Smallpdf shows that this speed-hack is not just a tech trend, but a valid method that has been accepted across industries, generations, and job titles that used to be miles away from any sort of automation
The survey of 1,000 U.S. professionals, including business owners, freelancers, and full-time employees, showcases the enthusiasm of some and the uneasiness of others. Some applaud AI for how it quickens the pace. Others question accuracy, accountability, and what “trust” means on paper now.
It’s a given that AI can write a contract, but would people reach for the pen if it does?
The Legal Intern That Doesn’t Need to Be Trained
These days, AI has been given another new role; it isn’t just crunching numbers or writing copy anymore, but is quietly sitting in on contract work too, with thousands of professionals treating it as a second pair of hands. In Smallpdf’s recent survey, more than half of respondents (55%) have admitted to using AI for drafting, editing, or reviewing contracts. It’s sound logic, as the less time spent nitpicking documents means more time for business.
The ways they use these tools aren’t all the same:
- 66% said they lean on AI to review contracts
- 65% use it to polish tone or structure
- 60% have used it for full drafting duties at least once
A process that once required several revision rounds now wraps up before an afternoon coffee break, as freelancers reported using prompts to build quick service agreements while small business owners have it look over everything to tidy up proposals or vendor terms.
The time savings are significant, as workers estimate getting 4 hours back each week, adds up to 26 workdays across the entire year. That’s an enormous win for startups that need that time pursuing investors, or consultants that need the time for balancing their extensive client list.
AI Proves that Time is Money
The savings speak for themselves. Respondents said they’re saving about $2,300 a year by using AI instead of hiring outside counsel, and a few even claimed savings north of $10,000.
But time is money, and the speed is where AI really earns it keep, with nearly half (47%) having said that they close deals faster when AI is involved to help smooth the bottlenecks that used to drag projects down.
The minutes pile up from the small stuff:
- Cutting down repetitive reviews
- Simplifying language and formatting
- Summarizing lengthy contracts in seconds
- Reusing standardized templates
Still, convenience comes with a trade-off, as the speed that gets contracts signed quicker can bury mistakes that reveal themselves after it’s too late to fix them.
The Price of All That Speed
AI speed doesn’t mean it’s always right, as over a third of professionals (36%) reported having to redo or toss out entire contracts because of AI-related mistakes.
The biggest issues show up in the most crucial areas:
- Scope of work
- Payment terms
- Definitions and legal language
- Governing law and jurisdiction
- Liability and indemnity clauses
Smaller mistakes popped up in confidentiality terms, intellectual property clauses, and dispute resolution sections. Even one misplaced word can shift the meaning of an entire deal, which explains why nearly nine in ten people still bring in a human reviewer before signing anything.
But not everyone plays it safe. According to the study:
- 31% never mention any AI usage
- 12% have had a contract flagged for sounding AI-generated
- 25% skip legal review entirely to save time or money
That tug-of-war between choosing speed and certainty is shaping the way professionals handle these tools. For now, most are accepting the risk in favor of moving faster, even if it means cleaning up the mess later.
Does AI Hold up in the Court of Law?
The real trouble shows up when those AI-written contracts hit the courtroom.
While two-thirds (67%) of people in Smallpdf’s survey said that they believe AI-drafted contracts are legally valid, others are not as confident. Only 24% think courts can handle AI-related disputes, but 45% doubt that they could keep up. A third aren’t entirely sure either way.
This gap speaks volumes to how people trust their own use of AI, but not the institutions that have to interpret it when anything goes awry.
And as more millions are tacked onto a deal, the nerves increase. When people were asked if they would trust an AI-written contract for a deal that was north of $100,000, only 20% said they’d risk it for the sake of expediting it; 80% said they’d still want a lawyer’s review.
AI is incredible with efficiency, but creates a barrier in trust that most people aren’t ready to cross.
Adoption Grows Amidst the Doubts
Even with doubts, people don’t plan to slow down their AI use, with roughly one in 3 people in Smallpdf’s survey reporting on their plans to use it even more for contracts over the next year.
Some industries are clearly ahead of the curve:
- Marketing and finance teams lean on AI to polish client agreements
- Healthcare employees use it for vendor forms and compliance paperwork
- Tech and manufacturing companies depend on it to crank out supplier contracts
Adoption is rising across job titles as well, with over half of respondents (57%) saying that they use AI to translate legal jargon into plain English for coworkers or clients. It helps break the barriers that kept people from understanding contracts in the first place.
Interestingly, 38% of respondents said they think AI-written contracts are fair to both sides, which suggests that there’s optimism towards automation as a way to make negotiations more balanced, not just faster.
Still, most agree that judgment, context, and trust are things that machines haven’t fully figured out yet.
Use AI, Don’t Rely on it
As much as AI can help to draft, summarize, and polish contracts, it still needs a person keeping an eye on it. The people getting the best results use the tech for efficiency while trusting their experience for the rest.
A few habits help keep things safe:
- Always get a human review. Even the tiniest wording errors can create expensive problems in the long run.
- Keep sensitive data out of AI Tools. Names, financial info, and addresses shouldn’t be used on public AI platforms.
- AI’s great for structure, but not the final draft. It’s great for cleaning up ideas and organizing notes, not replacing a lawyer.
- Be open about it. Let clients or partners know if AI assisted with a document to build trust and maintain honest communication.
- Keep up with the rules. Laws and standards around AI are changing quickly, and staying informed is the best protection.
Most professionals are already doing some forms of these without realizing it. AI makes the process easier, but judgment calls and accountability still belong to the people.
AI’s Don’t Sign the Deals – We Do
There’s no question that AI is helping professionals save time and money with deals closing faster, reviews taking less effort, and legal work becoming more manageable. But everyone in Smallpdf’s study agreed on one thing; technology is helpful, but it doesn’t replace intuition.
Tucked away in the complex legal terminology and intricate phrasing of a contract are tones, intentions, and extensions of trust that algorithms just can’t help but ignore. No matter how well a chatbot can fix grammar or how quickly it can clean up writing structure, lacking human perception will always place a limit on what it can effectively do.
For small businesses and freelancers, the key is balance. Let AI take the tediousness out of drafting, but real people have to be in charge of the intent and fairness. That mix of speed and sense is what keeps a business honest.
And besides, when it finally comes to signing the deal, it doesn’t matter how much AI helped with shaping the contract. It’ll always be real people signing it.
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by Irfan Ahmad via Digital Information World
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