Sahil Arora, a student at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, Punjab, is the author of this article. The purpose of this article is to know and understand how fast our world is changing, and this change can be seen in the legal field too in many aspects.

INTRODUCTION

In today’s world, where almost every person is trapped in the web of technology, the same situation is slowly forming in all fields and sectors. Every business, whether small or large, wants to establish an online presence. So many businesses are not adequately established offline but work marvellously in the digital world. In simple words, the digital world is nothing more than the real world, with just a slight difference in that in this digital world, we meet or trade with each other virtually. Although it sounds straightforward, the process through which we can do this stuff is very complex. And a single person or even a group of people are not enough to run this process smoothly and efficiently. So to meet the demands of this digital world, we humans started working on technology that can work more efficiently and speedily and can solve those problems in a few moments, which an average human will require a long time to do, or maybe it could be out of his ability to do.

One such thing which came as an outcome of this tech world is Robots, which are the result/outcome of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). Britannica says, “Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings.”

Robots are one such invention regarding which people used to talk even before they were made, just like flying cars or time machines. Initially, when A.I. was created, nobody would have thought that it would someday rule the world or, we can say, form its own world. Directly or indirectly, everything we can think of involves or is because of this A.I. Although currently, we don’t see much involvement in this in India. Still, that day is also not far when, in our country, every sector will involve robots and AI.

CHANGES IN THE LEGAL WORLD

1. A recent and trending invention in A.I., which crosses all the limits and perspectives to see the world, is “ChatGPT.” It is a chatbot that conversationally interacts with others and provides a detailed answer to the question raised.

• It is designed by the company OpenAI, which is an A.I. deployment and research company whose objective is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.
• Recently, ChatGPT gave a law exam at the University of Minnesota Law School, and although it got a ‘C’ grade, it still managed to pass the tests. The questions were regarding constitutional law, taxation, torts, and employee benefits.
• During essay writing in exams, the chatbot recited legal rules and cited relevant cases.
• Many teachers have considered it a good tool for educational purposes, but at the same time, some school districts have banned ChatGPT, like the officials of New York and other jurisdictions have banned the use of ChatGPT in schools.
• In India also, as per a Hindustan Times report, the Bengaluru-based RV University has banned many A.I. tools inside the campus, like ChatGPT, GitHub Co-pilot, and Black Box.

Although these steps are taken to prevent the students from cheating on exams and assignments and to maintain the critical thinking and creativity of the students alive, this fact can also not be denied that if not now, then for sure shortly we all will be witnessing the types of A.I. tools in our daily life including the legal profession too.

2. Nobody can deny the fact that our judiciary is overburdened, and we have to do something to solve this issue as soon as possible. Nowadays where every country is trying to handle this problem by imparting their staff (every person connected to the legal field) proper training, experience and knowledge; China is one step ahead of the world where they are not only focussing on their staff efficiency but have even successfully developed a “Robot Judge” who can hear and deal with the case which came before him.

• This robot is built and tested by the “Shanghai Pudong People’s Procuratorate,” the country’s largest and busiest district prosecution office. It is said that the robot judge can make decisions with 97% accuracy, and more than 3.1 million cases have been dealt with here. Like other robots, this one also works on artificial intelligence, where the people who created it have inserted numerous judgements, cases, orders, laws, etc., based on which this robot makes its decision. Currently, the robot deals with cases related to internet trade issues, copyright, product sales disputes, and credit card fraud. The basic principle or motive behind making this robot is to lessen the burden of the courts and provide speedy and quality justice. 

3. Another major problem that every legal practitioner usually faces be it a judge or an advocate, is the research work. Research work consumes the majority of the time of a case. Being it is one of the most crucial steps to winning a case, no one wants to make even a minor mistake here because this can lead to big trouble for the party (petitioner or respondent) in the future. For instance, if there is a case of divorce on the ground of cruelty and the advocate finds a precedent which was overruled later, but the advocate didn’t correctly research regarding this, then this can lead to losing the case. So there is no doubt that legal research is, was and will always be a crucial step in achieving success in the case.

• A great solution to battle this problem has been found. Andrew Arruda; a Canadian entrepreneur; along with his friend, Jimoh Ovbiagele, have developed the world’s first A.I. legal assistant named “ROSS”.
• This legal assistant (ROSS) works on the model the earlier told robot judge works. The ROSS Intelligence uses cutting-edge Natural Language Understanding to correctly answer questions related to legal research in a few seconds. ROSS analyses various pieces of evidence, draws inferences, and returns relevant evidence-based answers. It is built upon the Watson IBM cognitive computer, which can read, analyse and then answer any legal question.
• The most exciting thing regarding ROSS is that it successfully works in BakerHostler’s law firm, an Ohio-based firm incorporated in 1916. They use ROSS in bankruptcy, creditor’s rights, and restructuring teams. ROSS works on the principle that the more questions we ask from it, the more it improves and gets better. Whenever any new law is made or any old law is amended or even deleted, ROSS will analyse it and make changes for subsequent research.

CONCLUSION

As the world around us is changing very fast, it’s evident that we will soon see the role of A.I. and robots in our legal world, just like in other sectors and professions. The whole point, or I should say the motive behind using technology or A.I. in this legal field, is the same as it is for any other field, i.e., to ease the working mechanism and increase efficiency. Thus, these innovations are made in the legal field to lessen the burden of the courts and the people associated with the law.

Although it is said that this will lead to an increase in the unemployment rate, on the other side, we have to think that if we only focus on the employment problem, then several other issues like violation of human rights, unequal treatment faced by people, etc. will come to a halt. So whether this A.I. will be beneficial or harmful for us will be known only when it comes to large-scale ground level. Nothing less, it is for sure that the A.I. and robots are the future of the whole world, and no one can refute this claim.

For More Such Articles, Join Team Attorneylex’s WhatsApp group to get notified immediately. Also, check us out on Instagram and Twitter