What Makes a Violin Unique and Why AI Can’t (Yet) Replace Humans In Contract Preparation

Violins made by Antonio Stradivari (called “Strads”) in the late-Seventeenth and early-Eighteenth centuries are widely considered the best ever made. Yet for more than three centuries, musicians, collectors, scientists, and instrument makers (luthiers) have tried to determine why Strads stand in a class of their own.

There are many theories why Strads are unique. Maybe the secret is in the wood — the climate where it grew or the age of the trees when harvested. Maybe the secret’s in the chemical or other treatment of the wood before construction or in the varnish. Or, perhaps Stradivari’s construction -- the arching of the top or the thickness of the wood – was the key to his success.

Researchers have pursued all of those possibilities. Some studies have suggested that Stradivari’s wood may have been treated with minerals that changed its structure and acoustic behavior. In a recent article in The Strad, retired biochemistry and biophysics professor Joseph Nagyvary posits that Stradivari may have treated his wood with smoke before constructing his instrument. Others have focused on the chemical composition of Stradivari’s varnish or construction methods in an effort to identify what made these instruments so exceptional.

More subjective tests have clouded the mystery surrounding Strads. In some double-blind studies, accomplished violinists haven’t consistently identified old Italian instruments, such as Strads, by sound alone. In these studies, some artists have even preferred playing on modern instruments over Strads.

These studies reflect the intersection between the scientific construction of violins and the artistic element involved in making the instruments and evaluating their quality. Legal drafting similarly requires attorneys to employ both science and art. Yet, many attorneys view drafting as a scientific exercise, rather than an artistic one.

As taught and frequently in practice, contract preparation is akin to a complicated scientific exercise. The attorney selects a standard form and fills in the blanks. They then adjust the form to reflect the negotiated business terms and consider the contract complete. With this purely scientific approach, it’s no wonder that many consumers believe they can replace their attorney with a computer-generated form. And it’s no wonder that these attorney-scientists fear being replaced by AI.

However, good contract drafting requires both science and art. In addition to the scientific construction of a contract, good contracts also require careful crafting of language that not only faithfully reproduces the business deal but also reflects the environment in which the contract will be performed, the interplay between the business and “standard” terms, and the ethos of the parties. Although AI might be able to replicate the science of a basic contract, so far, only an attorney who approaches contract drafting as an art can prepare a customized document that fits their client’s needs.

Path to Artful Drafting

Legal drafting is only minimally taught in law school. Attorneys spend the first several years of their careers learning how to modify legal forms to meet their clients’ needs. Attorneys then spend decades honing their art.

The usual steps in the legal drafting process are:

1. Determine the client’s needs. This may come from a client interview, a review, legal analysis of existing legal documentation, or researching how others have addressed similar situations.

2. Identify the best form. Attorneys rarely draft a document from scratch. Usually, they build upon the scaffolding of a previous document or form.

There are thousands of legal form publications or websites covering different legal areas and jurisdictions. There also are online legal form sites. Sometimes, attorneys start with a document from a previous transaction. Most attorneys and law firms have their own favorite forms. And as much as I’m loath to admit it, an attorney sometimes can use AI to create a legal form.

However, just as effective use of search engines is critical to producing the desired results, proper use of AI is an art. Attorneys shouldn’t just ask AI a question. They should evaluate the AI result and engage in a dialogue about how to improve the document.

I like to think of it as the same dialogue I’d have with a law student when teaching them how to prepare a document. Training attorneys isn’t a one-and-done exercise – it’s an ongoing process that can continue for many hours over a period of years of trial, error, and improvement, and doesn’t even begin until after the attorney has learned the fundamentals of legal thinking during three arduous years of law school. Similarly, it takes extensive interaction and training to begin to teach AI to prepare a document, and the AI doesn’t have the benefit of having completed law school first.

Selecting the correct scaffolding is the first step in artful legal drafting, but it’s just the beginning. It may take more time to locate that better form or to engage in a dialogue with AI to hone the form, but just like training attorneys, that dialogue is an investment in the future relationship. The important thing to remember is that, whether it be AI-generated or from a previous deal, the form document is only scaffolding.

3. Add key information into the document. The next stage is more science than art, as an attorney or paralegal changes the form to conform to the client’s situation. This includes changing the names of the parties, adding dates, locations, and other factual information. This is the part of legal drafting where AI can save time by incorporating a term sheet into the form agreement.

4. Read through the draft. The next step, a read-through of the entire document, is where art enters the picture. The attorney reads the document for sections that don’t work with the intended business arrangement. And it’s where AI assistance can fall short.

For instance, suppose the form was for the purchase of an apartment complex where minimal personal property is being transferred along with the real estate, but the client is buying a student housing community where furnished bedrooms are rented. In that instance, the attorney will need to flag the personal property language so that they know to add more robust language regarding title to and quantity and condition of personal property to the new contract.

Or suppose the form contract was for the sale of a retail music store with inventory that fluctuates from time to time but provides few, if any services, but the new transaction involves the sale of a music school, which primarily provides services. In that instance, the form will need to be changed to remove details relating to inventory and to add language regarding assignment of teacher and student contracts, assignment of prepaid lesson fees, and perhaps representations and warranties regarding the independent contractor status of teachers.

While theoretically, AI could be trained to evaluate these subtle distinctions between asset classes and business types, this review is best handled by a human.

4. Refine the document. This part of contract preparation is where true art enters the picture. The attorney reads the document again and hones it to meet the client’s specific needs. The attorney may craft language to emphasize or play down certain provisions to reflect less tangible aspects of the transaction, such as the parties’ focus or business cultures.

For instance, if the parties are related or have a long relationship, the language might be softened to reflect that. But if there is distrust between the parties, terms may be firmed up with more detail than would be customary. Or if the client has had a negative experience in a previous deal, the contract might be customized to address the client’s heightened sensitivity in that area.

The goal in this refinement should be simple elegance – a customized agreement that flows so smoothly that the reader cannot readily ascertain that the contract has been customized. This is where contract drafting becomes true art that, at least today, cannot be replicated by routine AI interaction.

5. Error Checking (aka Proofreading).As the artful stage of drafting draws to a close, science once again takes front stage. Through attorney and staff review and computer review, there will be a check to ensure that spelling and grammar are correct. The attorney also should confirm that any language specific to the original form has been obliterated. It is embarrassing when a contract for the purchase of real estate in Maryland references Virginia.

As the pendulum again favors science, AI can be helpful. Spelling and grammar checkers and software that verifies mechanics, such as paragraph numbering and cross-references, have been used for years.

However, neither commercial software nor AI can complete this review without human assistance, particularly when using grammar or style review software.  An attorney must review and approve any changes to be sure that technology has not swept away the art.

Merger Of Art and Science in Legal Drafting

A luthier often begins the path toward becoming a violin maker by working for an experienced luthier. At first, the aspiring violin maker will perform routine repairs, such as rehairing bows or resetting sound posts on student instruments. These repairs require skill and artistry for professional instruments, but for student instruments, they are more scientific.

Eventually, the luthier will be called upon for more complex jobs, perhaps cutting a new bridge for a violin or making a new sound post. And over time, they will be entrusted with more complicated repairs on more valuable instruments, where the luthier learns the subtleties that make violin repair an art. Only after becoming intimately familiar with how violins are assembled and respond to these subtleties should a luthier begin to make instruments.

Technology can deceive the average person into thinking of law as a science. Individuals may rely upon software to write their wills or create basic business documents.

Attorneys also use technology. Forms and software tools may even provide attorneys with a jump start on the scientific aspects of legal drafting and enable attorneys to move to the art of legal drafting. Software may offer thesaurus and style features, which allow the attorney to improve word and style choices, and some software boasts the ability to help the attorney select sections for custom contract preparation.

But technology and AI are simply tools. A sound post setting tool doesn’t reset a sound post – it helps the luthier set the sound post. And AI should only be a tool to help an attorney do their job. Attorneys who attempted to use AI in lieu of their professional judgment learned that lesson the hard way after being disciplined for submitting false, inaccurate, or misleading AI-generated documents to courts.

At this point, AI still can’t evaluate and respond to the context and relational aspects of a transaction or relationship, nor can it respond to business cultures. Nor can AI engage in the type of thinking or analysis that makes legal drafting an art, rather than a science.

Perhaps the old saying should be changed to “A person who uses AI to represent them has a fool as a client – and an attorney.” Individuals who believe they can use AI in lieu of legal advice from an attorney risk unintended results that can at best be embarrassing and at worst, costly, and they frequently will end up paying much more to solve the resulting problems than they would have if they had hired an attorney in the beginning.

© 2026 by Elizabeth A. Whitman

Any references to clients and their legal situations have been modified to protect client confidentiality.

DISCLAIMER: The content of this blog is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice to any person. No one should take any action regarding the information in this blog without first seeking the advice of an attorney. Neither reading this blog nor communication with Whitman Legal Solutions, LLC or Elizabeth A. Whitman creates an attorney-client relationship. No attorney-client relationship will exist with Whitman Legal Solutions, LLC or any attorney affiliated with it unless a written contract is signed by all parties.