Artificial intelligence is making its way into every aspect of daily life, and a new trend is now emerging: using chatbots like our free online AI on Yiaho to represent yourself in legal matters.
An American woman, Lynn White, recently made headlines by scoring a major legal victory with the help of AI, marking a turning point in how people approach the courts.
She wins her case with the help of… ChatGPT!
Lynn White, a resident of Long Beach, California, found herself in a desperate situation. Facing eviction from her mobile home park over unpaid rent, she initially worked with a lawyer from a local tenants’ rights network. But after losing her case before a jury, she was left without the resources to appeal.
That’s when she turned to ChatGPT, an AI tool she was already using to create videos for her music production business. With the help of ChatGPT and Perplexity, an AI-based search engine, Lynn prepared her appeal by representing herself, a practice known as “pro se” in the United States.
Lynn provided ChatGPT with detailed legal documents and information about her case. The chatbot helped her identify potential errors in the judge’s procedural rulings, research applicable laws, develop strategies, and draft court filings. At Yiaho, we offer an AI Lawyer, specially programmed to help you! But this tool will never replace a real person, who can support you humanly through your steps.
Thanks to AI, she saves more than $73,000
After several months of litigation, Lynn managed to have her eviction notice overturned, avoiding about $55,000 in penalties and more than $18,000 in unpaid rent. “Without AI, I never could have won this appeal,” she says, comparing the experience to “having a god answering my questions.”
And this victory is not an isolated case. In the United States, a growing number of litigants are turning to AI tools like ChatGPT to navigate the legal system, often because lawyers are prohibitively expensive. From small-scale disputes, such as debt disagreements or neighborhood conflicts, to more complex cases, AI helps litigants understand legal jargon and prepare documents for court.
Also read on this topic: AI Lawyer: A legal revolution!
Using AI in courtrooms is not without risks
Chatbots, while powerful, can produce incorrect or made-up information, a phenomenon known as “hallucination.” For example, Jack Owoc, a Florida entrepreneur, was sanctioned for submitting documents containing citations to non-existent legal cases generated by AI.
Similarly, Earl Takefman, involved in a business dispute, learned the hard way that ChatGPT could invent court cases.
These errors can lead to costly penalties or even court sanctions, as in the case of a California lawyer who was fined $10,000 for citing incorrect references.
Lawyers are now using AI
Some lawyers, like Andrew Montez, use AI themselves to speed up their research, while carefully verifying every detail. Lynn White’s story illustrates AI’s potential to democratize access to justice. But experts warn that AI cannot replace human expertise, especially in complex cases.
Litigants need to learn to cross-check the information provided by AI with reliable sources. The rise of AI in courtrooms raises crucial questions: while it offers an unprecedented opportunity for low-income people, it also highlights the limits of current tools and the need for regulation.
While companies like OpenAI and xAI remain silent about the use of their technologies in legal contexts, courts are starting to take notice. As the technology evolves, it may well redefine justice—making it more accessible, but also more complex to navigate!
Source: NBCNews.com
