Robot Lawyers Ross and DoNotPay
The legal profession has a strong attachment to tradition. However, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to open many doors in even the most tradition-bound areas. In this regard, it is inevitable for the legal sector and its firms to interact with AI.
According to a report by Deloitte in 2016, 39% of legal tasks were predicted to be automated within the next 10 years. They also stated that the legal sector would become more digitalized in other areas as well. While there have been many advancements in legal services, from virtual assistants to answering legal questions, undoubtedly the most attention-grabbing of these developments is the use of robot lawyers employing AI.
Lawbot
Robot lawyers, or lawyer bots, are referred to as “lawbots.” Robot lawyers or robo-lawyers are algorithms that employ AI to analyze and process legal texts. While there are different opinions among implementers and developers regarding the use of these terms, the general usage is in this direction.
Robot Lawyer Ross
Baker & Hostetler, one of the major law firms in the United States, announced that they would use an AI called Ross in legal cases. Ross was developed by IBM, with Watson as its basis. Ross was designed to assist lawyers, rather than participating in cases. As a result, lawyers will save time by not having to conduct long research when seeking answers to their questions.
Andrew Arruda, the CEO of ROSS Intelligence, the team that developed Ross, said that they received many orders for tools that utilize AI. Over time, many law firms have begun to use this technology. Robot lawyer Ross is currently working on bankruptcy cases, and it is expected to be used in areas such as intellectual property, business and tax law, and criminal law in the future.
Working Method
When a search is conducted in the system, Ross determines the time frame and scope of the topic through natural language processing (NLP). The algorithm then produces results accordingly. It uses court decisions in New York since 2004 and federal cases as its sources. AI is integrated into the system through machine learning and word embedding. In addition to processing thousands of files, Ross can also retrieve and provide processed information to lawyers from large datasets.
A Robot Lawyer — DoNotPay
Stanford University student Joshua Browder developed a “chatbot” in order to help people avoid parking and speeding tickets. From its inception in 2015 until 2017, it assisted 375,000 people in overturning parking fines. Currently, this internet robot has been adapted to provide legal advice to immigrants seeking asylum. The chatbot can be used via Facebook Messenger and is being used in the UK and all 50 US states. Due to its integration with AI and the ability to provide legal advice, the chatbot is considered a “robot lawyer.” Browder said that they are working on making the chatbot available on other applications outside of Facebook Messenger.
References:
[1] Deloitte, Future Trends for Legal Services, Global research study, June 2016
