Lawyers in Australia will have some big competition on their hands with the release of a new, innovative artificial intelligence platform. The robot will be used in legal situations like divorce, custody, employment, and debt disputes.
According to ABC News Australia, using Dutch technology, National Legal Aid and RMIT University are showcasing their robot to change how court proceedings are done. The new technology could save both time and money, problems that often discourage people from pursuing legal matters.
Although about 11% of custody disputes are resolved during mediation, divorces in the future can be resolved using the Internet thanks to this new technology. Similar to eBay’s online dispute resolution service, the new technology can mediate divorces, tenancy disputes, and matters of debt. In situations regarding custody, for example, the system will inquire about the age of the children involved in order to consider their developmental needs.
Not only can it remember who you are, but it can also provide proposals based on previously gathered information on past resolutions when divorcing.
The Dutch technology has already been purchased in both the UK and Canada. Canada uses it for debt and tenancy issues, while the Netherlands has a system in place incorporating it into family law disputes.
“But the key to this is, unlike traditional modes of legal service delivery where the client’s in the back seat and the lawyer’s driving the car, here people are empowered to experience the controls themselves,” said Bevan Warner of Victoria Legal Aid in Australia.
“If we think outside the square and embrace online dispute resolution, it means that access to justice becomes a real thing for many, many Australians that miss out at the moment. I saw examples of that in the UK. They’re thinking about courts as a service, not a place. And I think that’s the future of courts here.”