Definition
A legal restriction that prevents delegating tasks legally defined as 'practicing law' — like giving binding legal advice or representing a client — to a generative AI system without a licensed attorney's direct involvement. A proposed California law (SB 574) would make this one of the strictest such rules for a major regulated profession.
Why it matters
This signals a broader trend of professional-services regulators drawing hard lines around what AI can and can't do autonomously, a pattern likely to spread to other licensed professions like medicine and accounting.