Supervision is a long-standing duty, and AI gives it a new edge. A junior who leans on a tool can produce work that looks polished and is wrong underneath. The supervisor's job is to make sure the firm catches that before a client does.
Set the boundaries
Staff need to know which tools they may use, for what, and what they must never do, such as putting client identifiers into an unapproved tool. Clear boundaries, written down, are easier to supervise than a vague sense of caution.
Check the work, not the tool
Review output as you always have, with an eye to the failure modes AI brings: confident wording that misstates the law, citations that do not exist, and summaries that miss the point. A polished draft is not a checked one.
Build the habit early
Teach new staff how the firm uses AI as part of their induction, so good habits form from the start. A junior who learns to treat AI output as a draft to verify becomes a safer fee earner.
Good supervision turns AI from a hidden risk into a tool the firm can rely on, because someone is always accountable for the result.
The supervision duty sits at firm level in the SRA Code of Conduct for Firms.
If your supervisors have never been told what to check in AI-assisted work, that briefing is a morning with us: arrange it here.