An Artificial Intelligence (AI) lawyer is gearing up to make history as the first AI to defend a case in court. Dubbed the world’s first “robot lawyer”, the bot will give prompts to the defendant on how to best argue their case against a speeding ticket when the hearing takes place next month. 

Created by startup DoNotPay, the chatbot will be on a mobile phone and will deliver prompts through headphones to the defendant, who has agreed to only say what the AI tells it to. The landmark case is designed as a test for DoNotPay’s services and they will pay for any fines incurred if the AI fails to win the case for the defendant.

While it may sound like the future of court hearings, there’s a catch – mobile phones and headphones are generally not allowed in courtrooms. However, according to the firm’s founder Joshua Browder, the hearing will take place in a location that will consider the headphones a “hearing aid”, thus allowing the AI. 

“It’s technically within the rules, but I don’t think it’s in the spirit of the rules,” says Browder in a statement to New Scientist. 

DoNotPay launched in 2015 as a chatbot startup aiming to help consumers get out of paying fines and late fees, and has since moved to AI following rapid advancements in technology that have occurred recently in the form of OpenAI’s GPT-3. 

It has previously been used to help a customer out of a $16 bank fee using solely the AI chatbot, according to New Scientist, but the company states it has helped with 3 million cases in the UK and US. However, this will be the first time an AI has become a lawyer in the courtroom. 

In October 2022, an AI made history by being the first to give evidence in the House of Lords. Talking on the impact of AI in art, Ai-Da took to the stand to give their opinion on how copyright laws and creative licenses should be considered in the wake of AI appearing in many different art competitions.  

It seems in one short period, AI has rapidly forced its way into law in various different roles, and this will surely be just the start.