I recently watched a video that discussed a company where lawyers who hadn't kept up their bar membership were acting as paralegals. The host mentioned that without an active bar membership, attorney-client privilege was no longer available.

I think it's crazy that my legal protections are dependent on the licensing status of the person I am talking to. It should be automatic, whenever anyone I'm talking to is acting as an attorney or a therapist or a clergyman or whatever else is protected.

To do otherwise, and force me to verify the license status of the person I am talking to is protectionism at its finest.

Of course. Even if you're paying for it, you're still the product. You are training data.