Darren Cohen from My AI Lawyer says that the agent provides you with legal advice based on the information you provide.
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It appears that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is infiltrating every possible industry, including law.
Darren Cohen, the head of distribution and marketing at My AI Lawyer spoke to The Citizen about an AI agent that aims to provide access to advice that enables you to protect what you love, and fight for what matters, minus all the labour costs lawyers charge.
What about my actual lawyer?
“My AI lawyer has been crafted in a way that provides jargon-free answers in plain language, to unpack those technical, legal concepts that are harder to understand,” Cohen noted.
The Citizen notes that AI cannot substitute as the only credible source of legal advice because the agent serves as a mediator or medium of understanding the law conversationally, as Cohen explains, without the complex language you would often get when speaking to a lawyer.
Cohen said that the AI lawyer provides you with information based on what you say about the dispute at hand.
“The AI needs to know more about your matter in order to guide you,” Cohen noted
“There are technical, legal concepts and terminology that can be overwhelming, and it can make information inaccessible for the man and woman on the street,” He explained.
Expensive Consultation Costs
Cohen emphasised that access to justice is a basic human right, and one that can often come at a steep price. Despite the platform being way cheaper than legal consultation fees with a lawyer, access still comes at a cost.
“Our experience is that many legal issues are resolved with advice and assistance that are inaccessible, that may come with costly litigation,” he noted
“For example, you could sit down with a lawyer who you are consulting with, at a pay-by-the-hour, sort of exorbitant fee, and they’ll turn around, and they’ll say yes, I can sort out your problem,”
“This is what it’s going to cost, but the person doesn’t walk away any more educated or aware of their rights or responsibilities, let alone what the legal process may actually look like.” He explained.
Cohen added that my AI lawyer provides you with 24/7 legal guidance and affordable subscriptions starting at R49 per month.
A lawyer in your pocket
Cohen noted that in the South African context, a large portion of the population lives in rural areas, while emphasising that the cost of traditional legal services can be prohibitively high, not including transport costs.
“That can be a big barrier. My AI Lawyer is really a lawyer in your pocket, but more than that, it’s digital when you are sending and a human when you need it.”
He explained that it is a full-service solution that provides you with a team of in-house legal advisors who can assist you with your matters when you need it.
“More of a holding hand to guide them through matters,” he continued.
The reality of AI hallucinations
Although this AI agent can benefit those who seek more knowledge on the South African constitution, the conversationally phrased advice may not hold the same weight as a strong argument provided by a human lawyer representing you in court.
Cohen explains that it is very human-like in nature and was crafted with compassion in mind.
He explained that the information provided by the AI agent has been reviewed by a team of in-house legal advisors who constantly review AI-provided information and update the corpus weekly.
He noted that having a human in the loop is obviously also a massive differentiator.
“I’ve actually spoken to clients who have started on ChatGPT, and it hallucinated.”
“It gave answers based on American law,” he explained.
According to IBM, AI hallucinations are instances in which an AI system produces outputs that sound plausible but are factually incorrect, irrelevant, or entirely fabricated.
He recalled that there was no one to speak to, and they were unsure what to do next because South African law is so different.
“I think for the South African context, it’s a much better and trusted tool that you can truly rely on,” Cohen emphasised.
The goal is accessibility
He used another example of a resident in the Eastern Cape who does not have the best network connection and wants to access legal advice, noting that my AI is available on two platforms, including WhatsApp, where you can ask to speak to a human and it will hand it over.
Cohen explained that there is no need to repeat everything that you have already run through with the AI because the human lawyer on the other side of the screen can review the information that the AI lawyer has provided, and offer additional assistance or advice you may need as an end user.
“We also have a web platform that is very much text-based, so there’s no heavy data usage on it,” he said
“You are also able to ask questions, receive answers, send voice prompts as well as receive your answers in voice,” Cohen added.
Bridging the gap
He noted that a lot of the requests received are surrounding labour matters and family disputes.
“We’ve specifically trained my AI lawyer to unpack what your matters are about, to dig for more information,” Cohen continued.
“So it’s not just going to spit an answer out at you. It’s really going to converse with you and provide information that’s nuanced to the specifics of your matter,” he explained.
He explained that even if one needed to take a matter to court, you would have already qualified the matter with the AI or human lawyer in the loop that starts the legislative journey on the front foot.
“It’s not just about telling someone what you know, or what the constitution or Labour Relations Act says, but it’s actually unpacking that for users in a meaningful way,” Cohen concluded.
