How will A.I. Affect my Family Law Case?
The buzz continues around how A.I. will affect the law and lawyers in general. However, Family Law may feel some very specific effects of A.I.
What is A.I.?
A.I. stands for Artificial Intelligence. Typically, this means programs use machine learning to perform human-like tasks. The programs will take information from complied data to detect patterns, make predictions, or put forward recommendations based on their study of the data. This can come in the form of A.I. platforms like ChatGPT, Google BARD, or OpenAI.
The Positives
New A.I. programs may drastically increase the accessibility and affordability of the legal system to pro‑se litigants (an unrepresented person). Pro-se litigants may be able to ask A.I. platforms legal questions; they may ask the platform to perform research, or even ask the platform to help them draft legal paperwork. Often, family law hearings may be slowed down by a pro-se litigant who asks the Court questions or must continue their hearing because they misunderstand the law. A.I. may allow the legal system to be more accessible and more efficient. This can benefit everyone and allow family disputes to be solved more effectively.
However, a pro-se litigant must be careful. A.I. platforms should never be your final step. These platforms are imperfect, and they can often make mistakes. Those mistakes may have catastrophic complications in your case.
A.I. could also have a very positive impact on counties and their accessibility. If A.I. could assist in translating family law forms, this could help people who don’t primarily speak English access the court more effectively. While Courts now have forms in select languages, this could allow any form to be quickly and easily translated into any language.
Precautions must still be taken. There would have to be some oversight regarding the accuracy of the translation for the legal standard the forms are purporting to convey.
Potential Negatives
A.I. platforms allow people to create mock photos, videos, or even fake audio recordings of people. These fakes are often hard to detect by the untrained eye or ear. This could create obvious issues with evidence in family law cases or even protection order cases. This inevitably would cause a rise in the liar’s dividend. That is, anyone can start denying evidence, and claim it’s doctored, feeding on people’s skepticism. However, many lawyers agree that Courts have long been battling and winning against people bringing fake evidence, and that authentication tools typically weed out the fakes.
Whether you’re curious about A.I.’s potential role in your case, or you want a second opinion on your legal advice gleamed from A.I., feel free to reach out to a family law attorney at Beresford Booth.
To learn more about How will A.I. Affect my Family Law Case?, please contact Beresford Booth at info@beresfordlaw.com or by phone at (425) 776-4100.
