KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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comments on Can you rely on AI when it comes to your legal issues
October 6, 2026
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comments on Can you rely on AI when it comes to your legal issues from article dated September 25, 2026
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Ken,
I read your September 25th post about using AI to analyze documents and it reminded me of an email that I received from an alarm company owner. I had answered a question about Texas Sales Tax at a conference and one of the attendees, an alarm company owner (not one of our clients) emailed me to tell me that I was wrong. He stated that he had “run the situation through Chat GPT” and that not only did it disagree with me, it cited Tax Code that would prove that I was wrong. He enclosed the Chat GPT results. It cited some statutes that were numbered differently than Texas Tax Code. Yes, they supported the position that the item was, indeed, not taxable, problem was that the support was Wisconsin Sales Tax Code, not Texas. Imagine getting a sales tax audit and trying to explain to the auditor that you didn’t collect sales tax because the services weren’t taxable in a state 800 miles away.
AI is the wild west. Don’t take a rubber knife to a gunfight.
Mitch Reitman
817 698 9999 XT 101
Reitman Consulting Group
Fort Worth, TX 76133
817-698-9999
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Ken
Even before AI I was second guessed, potential subscribers told something else they liked the answer to by someone else and then months later being called back to fix what the other company did, many times at greater expense and having to listen to, but they said, why is it so much they did a lot of the work already, etc.
Now I get to the point of completing a K&K agreement, submit it and have on a few occasions asked to change or remove things. Except for the length of the term the answer is no and if need be move on. If the value of the proposed work is worthy of possible changes we submit it to Ken for a reply and possible change. Contract (agreement) review by AI is increasing this, I find myself saying no changes more often, I’ve been at the point where I can pick and choose for many years.
I query AI for answers from time to time, then ask the same or very similar question two or three more times, usually getting different answers, if there is commonality I feel maybe it is correct and hope it listed the information source (code or standard).
Without AI’s input I see things getting done incorrectly by others on a very regular basis, I think AI will increase the problem. Case in point, we inspect a commercial building monthly, one tenant remodeled his area, we bid on the sprinkler work which involved changing all the sprinklers, they hired a plumber to do it for less, all (100+) sprinklers were installed wrong, the arms of the sprinklers are required to be parallel with the branch line they are on, all were perpendicular, we wrote it up as a deficiency the following month, the plumber that owns the mid sized shop that is licensed and been around for a long time got very upset, and we met at the job. At the meeting he said what is wrong with how they are, I handed him a copy of the NFPA standard that makes up the NYC requirements, he was unaware of this, I can understand that it has only been in the code going back to the 1960’s, he then “googled” once and said AI doesn’t agree, we are still listing it as a deficiency.
Maybe one day, long after I am retired, AI will be able to be relied on, not yet in my opinion.
Jeff
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Ken
You don’t need my validation, but well said.
Thanks,
Kyle
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Ken,
I fully agree with your perspective. I handle all legal matters for our organization, I truly appreciate your ongoing collaboration in the rare occasions when I have a customer who expresses concern over language in your All In One Contracts. You always help us find the right balance to keep us protected while providing comfort to our clients of what they are signing.
I have also used ChatGPT extensively over the last 18 months to review legal documents, refine language, and produce forms and letters for business use and jurisdictional matters. As you noted, AI is not a substitute for experience. In my testing, ChatGPT missed crucial nuances or paragraphs in about four out of ten documents I asked it to review until I pointed them out. ChatGPT would then apologize and re-review and give a different synopsis. AI lacks the deep expertise of a seasoned attorney and can easily misinterpret legal terms. It is a helpful tool, but nothing more at this point.
Thank you for your continued insights and industry updates.
Best regards,
Marty Marlow
DFW Security
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Ken:
You FORGOT to add: then have the AI just try to COLLECT the monies owed when the subscriber does not want to PAY!
Respectfully,
Joseph Pfefer, President & Founder
Jade Alarm Co
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Ken
When it comes to relying on AI, I am going to run with “no”
Bethann
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Touché Ken right on point!
Joseph Longo
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Response
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Thanks to all who took the time to respond and share. It’s interesting how fast we are all moving along. The change from 1926 to 2026 is not going to look nearly as transformative as 2026 to 2126. Your young kids and grandkids will wonder how we all managed to live in our primitive society. Lucky for some of us Star Trek prepared us for some of what is coming.
AI is a great tool you can and should use, but ultimately you need to rely on your own judgement shaped by your experiences and reliance on those you trust to provide you with their advice.
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Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq
Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC
Attorneys at Law
200 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, NY 11530
516 747 6700 x 301
ken@kirschenbaumesq.com
www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
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