October 29, 2026 • Articles

AI Legal Issues for Hawaii Employers: The Chatbot Is Not Your Confidant

Considering the multitude of expenses business owners face, it’s not hard to understand the incentive to use free or inexpensive AI to cut legal spend.  Why pay attorney rates when AI can get you 75% of the way to a good-enough-for-now answer – especially for a “quick” question, policy, contract, or business plan?  

But when does good-enough-for-now become problematic later? Remember:

• AI use may waive attorney-client privilege or breach confidentiality.  Your prompts and uploaded files may be stored and used by AI platforms to train future models unless you opt out – if you are able.  Don’t upload communications with your lawyer or confidential business information including trade secrets, employee data, financial information.
• LLMs are designed to be convincing, not correct. Don’t assume AI is more correct than a human, or that all AI tools have the same training or ability to use information.  Legal work requires both professional-grade tools and human professional judgment.
• “Solutions” are made, not bought. You invest in tools and advice – it’s your choice whether to spend on the front end or back end of the matter at hand.

Wherever you are in the AI adoption process, your attorney can help you navigate a clearer path through the legal risks and technical limitations of AI tools. 

For more on AI legal issues for Hawaii employers, you can also watch the Hawaii episode of the ELA’s APAC Vlog Series here.