0

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

Claiming asylum is difficult at the best of times, and that’s if you’re not in fear of your life and can understand the language, now DoNotPay’s latest bot makes the process less tortuous.

 

The creator of a chatbot that helped to over turn more than 160,000 parking tickets – they weren’t all mine by the way… and helped vulnerable people apply for emergency housing is now turning the bot to helping refugees claim asylum.

 

RELATED
Can your smartphone detect when you're depressed? This startup thinks so

 

DoNotPay, which was created by Stanford student Joshua Browder, describes itself as the world’s first robo-lawyer and it’s designed to give free legal aid to people who need it using just a simple chat like interface, and now the chat bot, which uses Facebook is helping refugees fill in Canadian, UK and US immigration applications.

 

An example of DoNotPay’s interface, claiming for delayed flights
 

Browder, who was born in London worked with lawyers in each country, as well as speaking to asylum seekers whose applications have been successful to create the new interface and he says the innovation is “long overdue.”

“I’ve been trying to launch this for about six months – I initially wanted to do it in the summer but I wanted to make sure I got it right because it’s such a complicated issue. I kept showing it to lawyers throughout the process and I’d go back and tweak it,” said Browder, “that took months and months of work, but we wanted to make sure it was right.”

 

RELATED
The sixth Game of Thrones book is being written by an AI

 

Browder who began working on the new project before Donald Trump became US president said he feels it’s more important than ever.

“I wanted to add Canada at the last minute because of the changes in the political background in the US,” he said.

The chatbot works by asking the user a series of questions, in order to determine which application the refugee needs to fill out and whether a refugee is eligible for asylum protection under international law.

After this, it takes down the necessary details required for the appropriate asylum application – a Canadian Asylum Application for Canada, an an ASF1 form in the UK, and an I-589 for the United States.

Browder says it was crucial the questions were in plain English.

 

RELATED
Watch a $300 DeepFake that casts Will Smith as Neo in the Matrix

 

“The language in these forms can be quite complicated,” he said.

As the user answers each question the details are used to auto fill the right form.

“Once the form is sent off, the details are deleted from my end,” said Browder.

The 20 year old chose Facebook Messenger as a home for the latest incarnation of his robo-lawyer because of accessibility.

“It works with almost every device, making it accessible to over a billion people,” he said.

And Browder acknowledges Messenger doesn’t come without its pitfalls. Unlike some other chat apps, it’s not automatically end to end encrypted.

“Ideally I would love to expand to WhatsApp when their platform opens up, particularly because it’s popular internationally,” he said.

 

RELATED
Meta's AI became an expert in Diplomacy and human gamers weren't the wiser

 

Once the application is sent, the data is destroyed from his servers within 10 minutes of someone using the bot, and the next step is making the service available in more languages – Browder, for example, is currently working on translating it into Arabic.

Meanwhile immigration lawyer Sophie Alcorn welcomed DoNotPay’s latest venture.

“As an immigration attorney, I can see the major benefits that leveraging sophisticated chat bot technology will have in the asylum application process,” she said, “it will be easier for applicants to submit their applications and it will empower legal aid organisations to assist a larger number of clients. Asylum seekers want to follow the laws and do everything properly, and this technology will help them do that.”

So far DoNotPay’s chat bot has taken on everything from parking tickets and homelessness to helping people claim for delayed flights and trains and it’s a powerful demonstration of how today’s technologies can be combined with ideas, network effects and business execution to democratise access to services that were once complex, expensive and all too often inaccessible.

 

RELATED
Blockchain without the miners, IOTA unveil their revolutionary new cryptocurrency

 

As I say all too often – when it’s combined in the right way technology has a democratising effect. First, we had the internet, which democratised access to information, and now, in the “Second wave” artificial intelligence (AI) is having the same democratising effect on expertise. We’re only just getting started, and no industry will be immune.

About author

Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working between the dates of 2020 to 2070, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series. Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future. A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries. Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.

Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *