Welcome the age of robot lawyers. I can’t believe I’m typing this, but soon the first ever AI legal assistant will help a defendant with their court proceedings. Two defendants, in fact, both of which will be using the AI to dispute a speeding ticket.

Designed by legal advice startup DoNotPay, the AI will help the defendants—who remain unidentified—by telling them exactly what to say and when, through an earpiece during the trial (via New Scientist). In one instance it’ll happen over Zoom, and the other will happen live in court.

No only does the company offer advice for all manner of legal battles, it also lets you connect with “Personable Prison Pen Pals” and gives advice on how to send them books from Amazon. 

With their tagline reading “Fight corporations, beat bureaucracy and sue anyone at the press of a button”, I’m now expecting an influx of “I’m being sued by an AI” stories over the coming years. Although the disclaimer on the sign-up page does note “DoNotPay is not a law firm and is not licensed to practice law.” 

Good to know.

I wasn’t aware wearing an earpiece in court was even allowed, let alone working with an algorithm on a case, intelligent or not. I suppose AI is still a relatively new implementation, particularly in the legal field. As such nothing like this has been encountered, so nothing’s been put in place to prevent it. Not yet, anyway.

Watching AI evolve this year has been a rollercoaster, and this is certainly going to be one to watch, especially as most AI GPTs can only manage a 5th grade level of English.