Expensive lawyers under threat from artificial intelligence

A law firm in the north of Australia will use artificial intelligence to provide residents with cheaper and faster legal advice.

Ailira (which stands for Artificially Intelligent Legal Information Resource Assistant) will be capable of providing consumer legal advice such as business structuring, estate planning and even wills. Tax professionals can also use Ailira for tax law research.

The office will open in Coolalinga, half an hour south of Darwin in the Northern Territory. Professionals using the software are charged $90 a month. Ailira is being used by lawyers to find information faster than ploughing through a mass of documents and text books.

Developer Adrian Cartland told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) it made sense to bring Ailira to those who needed it. "People who really need access to justice are the people who can least afford it," Cartland said. "Why not bring a law firm without lawyers right to people who would expect to get this in 10 years time?"

Cartland also stressed the financial benefits of Ailira. "People in low socio economic areas, people who can't afford to see lawyers or who have limited resources, they're the people who we want to help the most. "There is a huge untapped demand for legal services, and by reducing price and bringing access to justice, we can both benefit the consumer and benefit the legal profession."

Adelaide-based Cartland told The Australian in February that tax agents will be gone "withing five years" thanks to Ailira.

Darwin customer Logan Turnbull told the ABC the system took 15 minutes for a will. "It was really easy, just putting in basic details and it does the whole thing for you, so really good," Turnbull said.

According to the Ailira website, the program is starting to learn other aspects of the law such as assisting victims of domestic violence. Ailira is available as a chatbot via the Facebook Messenger app. When users sign in, they are given the options: Create a will, business structure, talk to lawyer, help or other.