Artificial intelligence is officially taking an important role in Arkansas’ legal practices. That’s the word from Attorney General Tim Griffin. As Little Rock Public Radio reports, Griffin hosted more than 400 attorneys from across the state on Monday, May 11, 2026, to make several announcements.
First, Miller made it clear that A.I. will play a increasingly play a larger role in industries across Arkansas, includes his own office, for use in legal practices. The event this week served as the kickoff of the Emerging Issues Series, “Innovation with Integrity: Embracing AI Responsibly in Your Legal Practice.”
As part of the kickoff, Griffin says the time of hesitancy with the technology is over. “There was a time when people looked at internet use as internet-optional. But we passed that long ago. Because of the speed of A.I., and how fast all this is moving, the time from introduction to, introduction A.I.-optional to A.I.-required has already passed.”
During Griffin’s remarks, he described the inevitable intersection of artificial intelligence use and the application and intrepretation of U.S. law as unavoidable, and if applied correctly, very helpful.
In a later statement, Griffin also added, “AI is an incredibly powerful tool that has the potential to reshape the practice of law. But as we heard from our distinguished lineup of speakers today, AI should be used to augment, not replace, our professional judgment.”
Secretary of the Arkansas department of Military, Brigadier General Olen (Chad) Bridges, Joined the attorney general on stage. Bridges says he is implementing the technology locally, using it to supplement current recruitment efforts of the Arkansas National Guard.
Bridges elaborated, “We have 2,000 full-time personnel in the Arkansas National Guard out of our 9,000. That’s manned at about 50% of what we should be manned at. And so, we’re not necessarily going to get any more manning. And so what I want to do is, is enable our teammates to do the things that they need to do in a better way and free up time in many cases they wouldn’t be able to do otherwise”
Bridges says previous technology introduced to the military was more compartmentalized, but said artificial intelligence was quote, “like water,” saying there will not be an area that remains untouched by the influence of A.I.
Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years.
And, while General Bridges, the Adjutant General of the Arkansas National Guard, began the discussion on the importance of leadership in implementing AI within an organization, other guests soon joined that very same discussion.
The attorneys who filled the North Little Rock Event Center also heard from leading experts Colin S. Levy of Malbek, Daniel W. Linna Jr. of the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and McCormick School of Engineering, Judge Scott Schlegel of the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, and Sean Harrington of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, as well as a presentation by the FBI Little Rock Field Office on deepfakes and AI-generated child sexual abuse materials.
