Temperature (AI parameter)

Temperature is one of the most important parameters to understand if you want to use AI responsibly in legal work. This setting, whose values typically range from 0 to 2, controls how much randomness goes into the model's choice of the next token (a word or part of a word). At temperature 0, the model consistently picks the most probable token: responses are deterministic and reproducible. At a high temperature, the model explores less likely alternatives, which adds creativity but also unpredictability.

For legal professionals, the temperature setting is critical. A low temperature (0.1 to 0.3) is recommended for any legal task that requires accuracy and fidelity to the sources: contract analysis, case law research, summarising decisions. At these levels, the model stays as close as possible to factual information and minimises the risk of hallucinations.

A higher temperature can nonetheless be useful in certain legal contexts: brainstorming arguments, exploring litigation strategies, or drafting first versions where creativity is welcome. The key is to deliberately choose the temperature level based on the task, and to always review the AI's output regardless of the temperature used.