An accused’s court defense is set to be extended by yet another form – an Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled bot. According to the New York Post, history is set to be drafted in the United States next month when “the world’s first robot lawyer” will defend an alleged traffic rule violator.
The AI legal assistant, enabled by the DoNotPay application, will listen to court arguments in real-time and advise the defendant on how to respond via an earpiece. The defendant will only say what the DoNotPay AI instructs, according to a report by New Scientist. The location or defendant’s name is yet to be disclosed, but the in-person speeding ticket hearing is scheduled in a U.S. courtroom sometime in February.
DoNotPay will also cover the traffic ticket fine if the defendant loses the case. The company claims it took significant time and years of research and development efforts to train the AI legal assistant. The AI will reportedly analyze the courtroom arguments instead of responding to every statement made in the court.
“We are trying to minimize our legal liability,” said DoNotPay’s founder and CEO, Joshua Browder. “And it’s not good if it twists facts and is too manipulative.”
DoNotPay is a downloadable mobile application that uses artificial intelligence to provide legal services. The app comes with a subscription cost of $36 for three months. DoNotPay began in 2015 as a basic chatbot to help users navigate bureaucratic and legal hassles, primarily using conversation templates. As it evolved, it expanded its services to include the ability to contest parking tickets and even assist with small claims court cases.
The use of AI in the legal system is a concept that has been introduced previously. Many companies have been working on developing AI-based legal assistants to help lawyers with research and document review. However, using AI as a legal representative in a courtroom is a first. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the U.S. legal system and what implications it may have for the future of legal representation.
The use of AI in the legal system raises several ethical concerns. One of the main concerns is the question of accountability. If the AI legal assistant makes a mistake, who is held responsible? Is it the company that developed the AI or the individual who chose to use it? Additionally, there is concern that AI-based legal assistants may need to understand the nuances of the law fully and may need help to provide the best defense for a client.
In conclusion, the use of AI in the legal system is a groundbreaking development that has the potential to change the way legal representation is provided. However, it is essential to address the ethical concerns raised by this technology and ensure that it is used responsibly and ethically. The upcoming traffic rule violation case in the U.S. court will provide a glimpse into how AI-based legal assistants can be used in courtrooms and the implications of it.
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In a ‘historic’ first, an AI-powered ‘robot lawyer’ will defend a human in US court