School of Law academic contributes to Singaporean Public Consultation on GenAI in legal services
Dr Virág Blazsek submitted written feedback to the 'Public Consultation on Guide for Using GenAI in the Legal Sector' of the Ministry of Law Singapore in September 2025.
The Guide for Using Generative AI in the Legal Sector aims to set out general principles and good practices to encourage responsible, ethical and effective use of generative artificial intelligence (“GenAI”) in Singapore’s legal services sector.
The aim is to support the legal services sector in harnessing the potential of GenAI, while being mindful of professional obligations in the delivery of legal services.
Dr Blazsek found the draft Guide extremely helpful, very well put together, and suggested that it can potentially serve as a best practice for other jurisdictions as well.
The draft Guide in its current form includes three Key Principles for the Legal Sector in terms of the usage of Generative AI: Professional Ethics, Confidentiality, and Transparency.
Pending the release of the final guidelines, in her feedback, she suggests adding Energy Efficiency as a 4th Key Principle in the Guide.
She says:
Legal service providers should be encouraged to have company-level energy strategies, such as investing in energy-efficient hardware, software, and promoting internal practices that work towards sustainable energy consumption.
She believes that this is important because, following human resources, a sustainable and competitive energy policy is the second most important building block of competitiveness in this area.
Energy is a limited resource, and using resources (such as water) is fundamentally necessary for human life. Energy efficiency means more cost-efficient legal services and, therefore, an overall positive impact on the entire economy.
The future of LegalTech and AI-driven legal services depends on affordable, secure, and sustainable energy.
She cites Sam Altman’s testimony at a US Senate Hearing: “I can’t think of anything more important than energy”.
Global energy demand
With AI, data centres, and cloud computing set to double global energy demand by 2030, energy is not simply a compliance matter but a strategic priority.
According to Dr Blazsek, energy efficiency needs to be embedded into the highly digitalised sectors, such as the legal sector and the financial sector.
Dr Blazsek believes that, through making energy efficiency a Key Principle in the Guide, legal service providers will be encouraged to demonstrate leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), align with client expectations, and strengthen both their competitiveness and long-term sustainability.
Dr Blazsek is the Deputy Director for the Centre for Business Law and Practice, and can be found on LinkedIn or at her personal website.
