Saskatchewan Law Grad Talks about Legal AI

By Alan Kilpatrick

Did you catch Andrew Arruda’s TED Talk?  TED Talks brings together diverse speakers to discuss exciting and emerging issues in the world today.

Arruda (JD’14) is a recent University of Saskatchewan College of Law graduate.  In his talk, Arruda speaks about the potential of an artificially intelligent (AI) lawyer to democratize the law, reduce legal costs, and to make the practice of law cheaper for all.  To accomplish this goal, Arruda worked with a computer scientist to create ROSS, the world’s first AI lawyer.  I encourage you to watch the video yourself.

The primary argument Arruda makes is that an AI lawyer can help reduce legal research time and consequently lower the fees incurred as a result of legal research.  Time spent on legal research, Arruda explains, is the biggest barrier to hiring a lawyer. Lawyers spend twenty or thirty hours on legal research and spend hundreds of dollars each month to access legal databases.  ROSS will allow lawyers to get away from legal research.

While I am skeptical an AI lawyer can actually do what Arruda claims, the idea is intriguing.  At the Law Society Library, we are continually on the lookout for the latest legal resource technology for our members.  Our goal at the Law Society Library is to provide members with the newest digital resources anywhere in the province.  Today you can access WestlawNext through the Members’ Section right on your computer’s desktop.  Tomorrow, will you be able to access an AI lawyer?