I study finance and accounting at Florida State. My research follows questions about how businesses work, where AI can help, and what the evidence supports.
The Shadow AI Advantage
How law firms can turn individual AI use into lasting productivity
This white paper examines what individual AI use can teach law firms about the work people need help with. It brings together survey findings and controlled experiments to make the case for testing specific tasks, training the people doing them, and measuring the time needed to finish acceptable work, including review.
The paper covers adoption, verification, approved use, and the business value of saved time. It is an independent synthesis and proposed approach, with research findings and illustrative examples identified separately.
Tyler Whitley | September 2026 edition | 13 pages
Discussion draft. Originally written October 8, 2025; this alternate revision was prepared with Codex. Evidence checked September 9, 2026.
Start with the question
The question sets the scope. A company's business model, a change in its results, and a claim about its prospects each call for different evidence. A broad summary can be useful context, but it does not necessarily answer the question that started the work.
My finance and accounting background shapes the questions I ask about costs, processes, and whether a proposed change would be worth it.
AI as part of the process
Arcadia can put research tools to work and carry relevant context between tasks. I can follow the work, steer it, and inspect what comes back.
Finding material and interpreting it are separate jobs. A useful answer needs sources that support the conclusion and a clear account of what remains uncertain.