A.I. is Here and It’s Legal: First Artificially Intelligent Attorney is Hired

IBM’s Ross, the world’s first artificially intelligent attorney, has been hired by Baker & Hostetler for its bankruptcy practice. The law firm announced they will be employing Ross to handle their bankruptcy practice, which currently consists of nearly 50 lawyers.

Built on IBM’s cognitive computer Watson, Ross was designed to be “the world’s first artificially intelligent attorney.” Beyond traditional computing, Ross can read and understand language, propose hypotheses when asked questions, research that can lead to responses with references and citations geared to back up its conclusions. Like the rest of us, Ross also learns from experience, gaining speed and knowledge from more interactions.

Just like you would with a colleague or co-worker, you ask your questions in plain English, and Ross then reads through the entire body of law and according to the website, “returns a cited answer and topical readings from legislation, case law and secondary sources to get you up-to-speed quickly.”

Ross minimizes processing time by narrowing down results from a thousand or more to only those that are most relevant to the case and presents the answers in a more casual and understandable tone and language. Ross can also keep you up to date with recent developments in the legal system, especially those that may affect your cases.

Baker & Hostetler’s chief information officer Bob Craig explained the rationale behind their latest hire: “At BakerHostetler, we believe that emerging technologies like cognitive computing and other forms of machine learning can help enhance the services we deliver to our clients.”

Although Baker & Hostetler was the first to announce, according to CEO and co-founder Andrew Arruda, other firms have also signed licenses with Ross, and they will also be making announcements regarding their new hire.

With A.I. built on cognitive computing and the ability to reference and research through the entire body of bankruptcy law at computing speed, one can only imagine how this type of employee could start changing the legal industry.

References:
The American Lawyer

Artificially Intelligent Lawyer “Ross” Has Been Hired By Its First Official Law Firm