The tragedy of Adam Raine corroborates the findings of HBR research earlier this year by Marc Zao-Sanders, How People Are Really Using Gen AI in 2025, which highlighted a shift from technical to emotive applications. It identified the top three use cases as: Therapy/companionship, Organising my life, and Finding purpose. Another potential factor, which is not identified in the study is that voice mode – not just for ChatGPT – feels more like talking to a person than a machine, and sending voice notes (to people) is increasingly popular, particularly among Gen Z.

What does all this mean for lawtech and emotive legal issues? Last week, Niall Mackenzie, chief executive of Acas, the UK’s state-funded Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, which resolves most employment disputes before they reach a tribunal, told the Financial Times that rapid rollout of AI would help Acas cope with an increase in its caseload when the employment rights bill comes into force. “Wouldn’t it be lovely if the two parties [in a dispute] could submit their claims against each other in writing and the machine made the decision?” he said. This assumes that parties would be equally able to set out their cases clearly, sometimes in stressful circumstances, and then accept AI judgments. The FT article referred to a testimonial in Acas’s annual report that a conciliator had provided “the space to present my argument without feeling rushed” and questioned whether a machine [decision] could give this sense of closure.

Probably not, but it might be helpful earlier in the process. Family lawyers have long understood that, carefully applied, technology can help to defuse emotionally charged situations long before the decision stage. Over the last decade, Alan Larkin, founder of Family Law Partners and Nova Law, has developed several AI applications for family lawyers, working in partnership with the University of Brighton which recently awarded him an honorary doctorate. These include Engage which provides a digital pathway through the complexities of separation and divorce. Larkin emphasises the importance of getting the facts right at the outset of every case. However it can be distressing for parties to repeat their story multiple times. Engage helps them set out the details clearly in their own time so that lawyers understand the case before meeting the client. And technology doesn’t always have to be cutting edge. For example, Larkin told me about his colleague Matthew Richardson using a white noise machine to help clients deal with stressful meetings.  This is particularly useful for people who are neurodivergent, but can be helpful for anyone struggling to cope with unfamiliar stressful situations.