Thursday, March 9, 2023

Will Artificial Intelligence help provide more access to quality and affordable legal representation?

There has been a lot of attention lately to issues related to Artificial Intelligence ("AI"), particularly to the use of ChatGPT to generate written content and the claims that a company called DoNotPay made about offering the first robot lawyer.  

Obviously, there is a lot of uncertainty about the future of AI and whether it will be a positive or a negative in society in general and in the legal profession in particular.  If you are interested in this topic, take a look at a short article by Lance Eliot (Stanford) published in Jurist called ChatGPT and Other AI Programs Aid and Muddle Access to Justice as Non-Lawyers Seek Their Advice, available here.  It starts with this:  

Can access to justice be enhanced via the advent of generative AI such as the widely and wildly popular ChatGPT app?  I get asked this pointed question quite frequently. The straightforward answer is that generative AI provides a mixed bag, namely that in some respects this type of AI will indeed enable greater access to legal information and bolster access to justice, though there are downsides that muddle the otherwise hoped-for positive benefits. Great care and mindful attention need to be diligently considered on how AI comes into play for legal tasks.

And, if you want a quick look at some of the issues raised by the use of AI in general, you may want to watch a recent segment in John Oliver's show Last Week Tonight (below) or here if you can't see the player below. 

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