While the world's first robot lawyer was set to make a mark in history, it is now being accused of performing legal activities without having a law degree.
World's First Robot Lawyer Under Attack
According to the Daily Mail, the AI-powered defendant "DoNotPlay" is charged with allegations that the robot is masquerading as if it is a licensed practitioner. The case was filed by Edelson, a law firm in the US.
The case was filed on March 3 and published on Thursday in the Superior Court of the State of California's website, for the County of San Francisco.
As per Business Insider, the charges argue that it is unfortunate for the robot's customers that DoNotPlay is not a robot, lawyer, or law firm. The bot does not have a degree, nor is it barred across any jurisdiction. DoNotPlay is also not managed by any supervising lawyer.
The charges also claimed that DoNotPlay offers unlawful services while its company has legal documents that are substandard.
The suit was filed on Jonathan Faridian's behalf. Faridian mentioned that he used the AI-powered bot to come up with several legal documents, such as demand letters and a complaint about job discrimination. According to the complaint, Faridian thought that he obtained legal documents from a competent lawyer. However, the outputs he received were substandard.
Gizmodo reports that the suit also mentioned a review of the service, wherein someone tried to use DoNotPlay to dispute two parking tickets. However, the person ended up shelling out more money because the company was unresponsive to the court summons. Even after the customer tried to cancel the account, the customer was still charged a subscription fee, as mentioned in the lawsuit.
ALSO READ: Can ChatGPT Replace Human Brain? AI Tool Generating Content Comes With a Price
World's First Robot Lawyer: AI-Powered Defendant "DoNotPlay"
DoNotPlay claims that it uses AI to assist customers with various legal issues without having to hire an actual lawyer. Founded in 2015, the app initially aimed to help its customers deal with parking tickets. However, it later expanded its scope. According to its site, the service claims that it may assist anyone in beating bureaucracy, fighting corporations, looking for hidden money, and suing virtually anyone.
The company mentioned to Business Insider that it denies these allegations and that it will be defending itself. Joshua Browder, DoNotPlay CEO, said that he will be fighting the lawsuit.
Bad news! Jay Edelson, America's richest class action lawyer, is suing my startup @DoNotPay in California. Mr Edelson, who has made billions suing companies, is attacking us for "unauthorized practice of law" and seeking a court order ending any A.I product.
— Joshua Browder (@jbrowder1) March 9, 2023
Here's my response: pic.twitter.com/6PvFVW65rB
The robot lawyer service garnered the attention of many after Browder announced plans to use the bot to give advice to a defendant dealing with the traffic court. However, this plan got postponed after Browder allegedly received threats from prosecutors of the State Bar and feared getting sentenced to jail for six months if a robot lawyer was brought into the courtroom.
RELATED ARTICLE: AI Doctor? ChatGPT Nearly Passes US Medical Licensing Exam
Check out more news and information on Artificial Intelligence in Science Times.
