Lawbot
{{Short description|Programmed bot to automate legal tasks}}
Lawbots are a broad class of customer-facing legal AI applications that are used to automate specific legal tasks, such as document automation and legal research.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Legal technology: the rise of the chatbots |url=https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/features/legal-technology-the-rise-of-the-chatbots/5060310.article |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Law Gazette |language=en}}Fisher, Zeev, and Richard Tromans. "Legal Bots: A Partner’s Little Helper." Artificial Lawyer. N.p., 29 Aug. 2016. Web. 17 June 2017.
Lawbots use various artificial intelligence techniques or other intelligent systems to limit humans' direct ongoing involvement in certain steps of a legal matter.Monahan, Gwynne. "How automation is changing the legal profession." Americanbar.org. American Bar Association, Oct. 2015. Web. 17 June 2017.
Levels of autonomy
The following levels of autonomy (LoA) are suggested for automated AI legal reasoning:{{cite arXiv |last1=Eliot |first1=Lance |title=Antitrust and Artificial Intelligence (AAI): Antitrust Vigilance Lifecycle and AI Legal Reasoning Autonomy |date=23 December 2020 |class=cs.CY |eprint=2012.13016 }}
- Level 0 (LoA0): No automation for AI legal reasoning
- Level 1 (LoA1): Simple assistance automation
- Level 2 (LoA2): Advanced assistance automation
- Level 3 (LoA3): Semi-autonomous automation
- Level 4 (LoA4): Domain automation
- Level 5 (LoA5): Fully-autonomous automation
- Level 6 (LoA6): Superhuman automation
Examples
Some legal AI solutions are developed and marketed directly to the customers or consumers, whereas other applications are tools for the attorneys at law firms. There are already hundreds of legal AI solutions that operate in multitude of ways varying in sophistication and dependence on scripted algorithms.{{Cite web |title=Legaltechlist |url=https://techindex.law.stanford.edu/ |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=techindex.law.stanford.edu}}
One notable legal technology chatbot application is DoNotPay. It had started off as an app for contesting parking tickets, but has since expanded to include features that help users with many different types of legal issues, ranging from consumer protection to immigration rights and other social issues.{{cite news|work=DoNotPay|url=https://donotpay.com/learn/parking-tickets|title=Appealing parking tickets|language=en|access-date=2019-10-16}}{{cite news|work=Fox 5|url=https://www.fox5dc.com/news/robot-lawyer-app-allows-you-to-sue-anyone-with-press-of-a-button|title=Robot Lawyer: App allows you to sue anyone with press of a button|first=Jaclyn|last=Kelley|date=October 18, 2018|language=en|access-date=2019-10-16}}
Impact on the legal industry
In the 2016 report, Deloitte estimated that more than 110,000 law jobs in just the United Kingdom alone could disappear within the next twenty years due to automation. This change could result in the creation of more highly skilled jobs and in the reduction of paralegal and temporary positions. Deloitte's report asserts that "there is significant potential for high-skilled roles that involve repetitive processes to be automated by smart and self-learning algorithms".{{Cite web |title=Audit & Assurance |url=https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/audit/solutions/uk-audit-assurance.html |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Deloitte United Kingdom |language=en-gb}} According to Lawyers to Engage, between 22% of a lawyer’s work and 35% of a legal assistant’s work can be automated in the US. Top law schools like Harvard have already begun to integrate Artificial Intelligence into the curriculum. "What everyone must know about lawyer bots." Lawyers to Engage, 2021. Mon. 02 August 2021.
Legal tech start-up companies have begun developing applications that assist law firms with completing low-risk legal processes.{{Cite web|url=https://aiprofessionals.io/|title=AI Professionals Home - AI Contract Review For Lawyers|website=aiprofessionals.io|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-03}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.lawgeex.com/|title=Homepage|website=LawGeex|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-03}}{{Cite web|url=https://kirasystems.com/|title=Machine Learning Contract Search, Review and Analysis Software|website=kirasystems.com|language=en|access-date=2019-12-03}} These applications can enable lawyers to focus on more work that requires their specific expertise.
The automation of processes like contract reviewing, enforcement of negotiations (smart contracts) and client intake (expert systems) allows law firms to streamline their procedures and improve efficiency.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lawtechnologytoday.org/2018/09/five-ways-for-law-firms-to-become-more-efficient/|title=Five Ways for Law Firms to Become More Efficient|last=Urban|first=Holly|date=2018-09-24|website=Law Technology Today|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-03}} In addition, automation benefits small-to-medium law firms that do not have the resources to utilize junior talent on such routine tasks.
The increase of law firms utilizing automated applications could result into legal tech becoming a necessity in the industry. Digital Reason CEO, Tim Estes, stated that those who refuse the opportunity to integrate AI in their workflow are “most at risk.”{{Cite web|url=https://www.cio.com/article/3190142/why-ai-will-both-increase-efficiency-and-create-jobs.html|title=Why AI will both increase efficiency and create jobs|last=White|first=Sarah K.|date=2017-04-17|website=CIO|language=en|access-date=2019-12-03}}
In 2018, Forbes reported a 713% increase in investments in legal tech. This rapid growth is reflective of law firms beginning to “cede business to… new model legal providers… that meld technological, business and legal expertise.”{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcohen1/2019/05/03/getting-beyond-the-tech-in-legal-tech/|title=Getting Beyond The Tech in Legal Tech|last=Cohen|first=Mark A.|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2019-12-03}}
Access to law and justice
It has been widely estimated for at least the last generation that all the programs and resources devoted to ensuring access to justice address only 20% of the civil legal needs of low-income people in the United States.Legal Services Corporation, Documenting the Justice Gap in America: The Current Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low Income Americans, 2009, p.13. Drawing on this experience, in late 2011, the U.S. government-funded Legal Services Corporation decided to convene a summit of leaders to explore how best to use technology in the access-to-justice community. The group adopted a mission for The Summit on the Use of Technology to Expand Access to Justice (Summit) consistent with the magnitude of the challenge: "to explore the potential of technology to move the United States toward providing some form of effective assistance to 100% of persons otherwise unable to afford an attorney for dealing with essential civil legal needs".Legal Services Corporation, Report of The Summit on the Use of Technology to Expand Access to Justice, p. 1; December 2013.
In April 2017, joined by Microsoft and Pro Bono Net, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) announced a pilot program to develop online, statewide legal portals to direct individuals with civil legal needs to the most appropriate forms of assistance.{{Cite web |title=The Legal Services Corporation Announces Pilot States for Innovative Program to Increase Access to Justice |url=https://www.lsc.gov/press-release/legal-services-corporation-announces-pilot-states-innovative-program-increase-access |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=LSC - Legal Services Corporation: America's Partner for Equal Justice |language=en}}
Technological limitations
Current research in subjects such as computational privacy, explainable machine learning, Bayesian deep learning, knowledge-intensive machine learning, and transfer learning reveals that we do not yet have the technology to enable Level 4 to 6 AI lawbots.{{Cite web|title=AI Lawyers: A Guide To Fully Automated Luxury Lawyers|url=https://genieai.co/blog/ai-lawyers-a-guide-to-fully-automated-luxury-lawyers|access-date=2021-09-13|website=genieai.co}}
In 2023, OpenLaw began developing a model called Law Bot, which interacts in a conversational way as an attorney. The dialogue format makes it possible for Law Bot to answer follow-up questions, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests. Currently, they try to ensure it is in full compliance with all laws and regulations while conducting further beta testing before releasing it to the general public.
See also
References
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External links
- [https://techindex.law.stanford.edu/ CodeX Techindex], Stanford Law School Legal Tech List
- [http://www.lawsitesblog.com/legal-tech-startups LawSites] List of Legal Tech Startups