We start the discussion regarding the above topic with a question. Has the progress in science reached a point where man has been able to produce something that exhibits some human-like abilities? It seems that with the production of artificial intelligence technology, the answer to this question is positive. The next question is what is artificial intelligence? Is artificial intelligence also applicable in legal institutions?
What is artificial intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence), whose initial spark was created in the first years after the end of World War II (1950 AD) in the mind of English computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing, is a branch of computer science and It refers to intelligent systems and programs that are able to understand a large amount of data and can perform human reactions and behaviors such as learning, reasoning and solving complex problems, thinking, making decisions based on previous data, etc.
The difference between artificial intelligence and human intelligence
The difference between artificial intelligence and human intelligence is that artificial intelligence makes decisions and reacts based on the rules and algorithms that are already built into it; While the human intellect has the ability to observe and understand issues at the moment and can make judgments based on their observations and perceptions and make appropriate decisions.
The goal of artificial intelligence specialists is to bring the behaviors and reactions of the artificial intelligence system as close as possible to the behaviors and reactions that are usually expected from normal humans (depending on the circumstances). The remarkable thing about this technology is that it can perform any task assigned to it on a very large scale and is constantly learning like a human being; As a result, the capabilities of these systems and smart machines seem almost endless.
Basically, any task whose main body is evaluation, matching and recognition can be easily simulated using artificial intelligence. Examples of the use of artificial intelligence in legal institutions can be seen in the administration of countries such as Estonia. For example, the Estonian government hired a 28-year-old student to implement artificial intelligence in the country’s ministries and facilitate the provision of services such as justice, tax, police, etc. In Iran, efforts have been made to equip the tax administration with this type of system to help the officers of this organization to detect such phenomena as fraud, tax evasion, etc.
Application of Artificial intelligence in law institutions of Iran
Regarding the use of artificial intelligence in legal institutions, it can be mentioned that this field is largely dependent on tradition and traditional systems and has benefited less from artificial intelligence than other branches. However, this area has also started the initial stages of digitization. It is important to mention that the machine learning system as well as rights operate based on common principles; In this way, both of them should pay attention to historical examples and infer the rules and algorithms related to the new situation from them to make decisions about the upcoming issues. This common method facilitates the use of artificial intelligence in legal institutions.
In the world of law, several areas are especially susceptible to the use of artificial intelligence. In recent years, we have seen important developments in each of those areas. One of these areas is courts and judicial courts. In 2016, a study titled “Predicting Judicial Decisions of European Court of Human Rights Cases: A Natural Language Processing Approach” was published in the Peer Computer Science Journal, in which data from 600 judicial cases presented at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was published. ) was used and using machine learning and natural language processing, an intelligent system was designed that predicts the final decision related to cases with 79% accuracy.
One of the best uses of this system is determining the priority of cases referred to the court. Due to the acceptable accuracy of predicting the results, this system can put more sensitive cases on the path of review by human judges and prevent the damage caused by the prolongation of the proceedings of some cases.
Natural Language Processing (NLP), mentioned above, is one of the important subfields of artificial intelligence that focuses on human-computer interaction. In other words, in this branch, computers are used to process spoken and written language; In such a way that the computer is able to analyze and understand speech or writing produced in the structure of a natural and human language or even produce it. By means of such a processor, one can translate languages or use the treasure of written databases to answer the questions of the audience or even talk to a device, for example, to get advice. In addition to judicial courts, the application of artificial intelligence is currently found in legal institutions and companies.
The use of artificial intelligence in legal institutions can be classified in the following cases:
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Review and modify contracts
Contracts are the most important part of commercial transactions and the economic system, but the process of negotiations between the parties and concluding a contract is very long and exhausting. In many cases, the prolongation of the negotiation process causes a delay in the signing of the contract and fails the companies in achieving their legal-commercial goals. Also, in the process of going back and forth between the lawyers of the parties, sometimes thousands of pages of contracts, many human errors occur and many details are neglected. While in a professional and principled contract, all details are taken into consideration. In this regard, many startups such as clearLaw, klarity, etc. are working on this part of the services of legal institutions; These institutions mechanize the contract writing process in such a way that in the systems designed by them, samples and sample contracts are entered into the software and saved, and then the software itself analyzes the new contracts that are given to it. determines which part of the contract is acceptable and in which part there are defects.
The purpose of designing such systems is not to eliminate lawyers and legal advisors, but this software is designed to help them use the results and analyzes of artificial intelligence in legal institutions and prepare the final contract with the least amount of errors.
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Analysis of contracts
The conclusion of the contract is actually the starting point of cooperation between the parties. Adherence to the contract and constant compliance with agreed terms and obligations is essential; But this issue is very difficult for companies, including large law firms that have a large number of pending contracts with thousands of contract parties (in various domestic and foreign sectors). Artificial intelligence in legal institutions has provided the opportunity for various companies to have the main and essential information of all their contracts in a transparent and classified manner.
Many institutions such as Kira system, Lexion, etc. design such software and platforms. Such transparency has many benefits from the use of Artificial intelligence in law. Among other things, it makes all parts of the company make informed decisions, the time of contract renewal can be easily inquired and tracked, the procurement teams of the companies are informed about the details of the contracts and find the possibility to make transactions on time. and carry out negotiations and such matters.
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Anticipation of litigation
Some startups are looking to design a system that can predict the outcome of pending cases. The use of such an artificial intelligence system in legal institutions and companies helps to prevent useless lawsuits, make quick settlements, and minimize the number of cases that need to go to court. Another use of artificial intelligence is related to litigation financing. A method in which a third party pays the cost of a plaintiff’s proceedings and receives a share of the positive amount if the plaintiff succeeds in the case. In the systems related to this, tools are designed to analyze and accurately evaluate the files and identify the valuable files as best as possible. Legalist is an active startup in this field.
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Legal research
Legal research is another area where machine intelligence is paving the way. Traditional legal researches are written based on library sources or collection of opinions issued by courts. In recent years and with advances in the field of computers, legal research has been somewhat equipped with digital space. However, this digitalization only provides the researcher with the possibility of a very simple search in past researches through keywords. Companies such as Casetext and Ross Intelligence are building research tools that have a more sophisticated understanding of the true meaning of legal opinions and are not limited to keywords. Models and programs such as Semantic Models give researchers the ability to find interesting similarities in seemingly different legal cases. Today, more than 4,500 law firms in the United States use the software provided by casetext.
All the mentioned cases of the use of artificial intelligence in legal institutions are taking place in foreign countries, especially the United States. While basically in Iran this usage does not exist at all or it remains in the preliminary stages.
As you know, in almost many areas such as marketing, sales, human resources, etc., commercial software has entered the market with large capitals to improve activities and workflow in business environments. The only exception is the field of law. The legal sector has received less attention from designers and entrepreneurs in the field of artificial intelligence, however, if we consider the huge turnover in the field of law, we come to the conclusion that there is a great opportunity to generate wealth in the field of legal services.
Also, the fundamental differences that exist between different legal systems prevent foreign software and systems from being used objectively without localization and transformation. Every country should use its domestically designed programs. There is no doubt that there are many opportunities for revolution in the field of legal services, including legal services that can be provided by legal institutions such as Dadista Law Institute, which can be guided in the right and optimal way using artificial intelligence technology. Such capabilities and capabilities exist in the technology field of the country and it is not far from expected. It is possible to take an effective step towards the application of artificial intelligence in the field of law, especially the services provided by legal institutions, by following the example of foreign designed software and considering Iran’s legal system.