Joshua Browder, the CEO of New York startup DoNotPay, recently announced that his company's AI will represent a defendant fighting a traffic ticket in the courtroom on February 22nd. "[H]istory will be made," Browder wrote in his tweet. "DoNotPay A.I will whisper in someone's ear exactly what to say. We will release the results and share more after it happens," he added. We may never know how the "robot lawyer" will fare in court, though, because a few days later, Browder announced that DoNotPay is postponing its court case after he received threats of jail time from state bar prosecutors if he goes through with his plan.

Last week DoNotPay(Opens in a new window) CEO Joshua Browder announced that the company's AI chatbot would represent a defendant in a U.S. court(Opens in a new window), marking the first use of artificial intelligence for this purpose. Now the experiment has been cancelled, with Browder stating he's received objections from multiple state bar associations. "Bad news: after receiving threats from State Bar prosecutors, it seems likely they will put me in jail for 6 months if I follow through with bringing a robot lawyer into a physical courtroom," Browder tweeted on Thursday.(Opens in a new window) "DoNotPay is postponing our court case and sticking to consumer rights." The plan had been to use DoNotPay's AI in a speeding case(Opens in a new window) scheduled to be heard on Feb. 22. The chatbot would run on a smartphone, listening to what was being said in court before providing instructions to the anonymous defendant via an earpiece.

A "robot" lawyer powered by artificial intelligence will be the first of its kind to help a defendant fight a traffic ticket in court next month. Joshua Browder, CEO of DoNotPay, said the company's AI-creation runs on a smartphone, listens to court arguments and formulates responses for the defendant. The AI lawyer tells the defendant what to say in real-time, through headphones. The robot lawyer will take its first case on February 22, Browder announced on Twitter last week. "On February 22nd at 1.30PM, history will be made. For the first time ever, a robot will represent someone in a US courtroom. DoNotPay A.I will whisper in someone's ear exactly what to say. We will release the results and share more after it happens. He did not disclose the name of the client or the court. On February 22nd at 1.30PM, history will be made. For the first time ever, a robot will represent someone in a US courtroom. DoNotPay A.I will whisper in someone's ear exactly what to say. We will release the results and share more after it happens. The artificial intelligence firm has already used AI-generated form letters and chatbots to help people secure refunds for in-flight Wifi that didn't work, as well as to lower bills and dispute parking tickets, among other issues, according to Browder. All told the company has relied on these AI templates to win more than 2 million customer service disputes and court cases on behalf of individuals against institutions and organizations, he added. It has raised $27.7 million from tech-focused venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz and Crew Capital. "In the past year, AI tech has really developed and allowed us to go back and forth in real time with corporations and governments," he told CBS MoneyWatch of recent advances. "We spoke live [with companies and customer service reps] to lower bills with companies; and what we're doing next month is try to use the tech in a courtroom for the first time." If the robot lawyer loses the case, DoNotPay will cover any fines, Browder said. Some courts allow defendants to wear hearing aids, some versions of which are bluetooth-enabled. That's how Browder determined that DoNotPay's technology can legally be used in this case. Some states require that all parties consent to be recorded, which rules out the possibility of a robot lawyer entering many courtrooms. Of the 300 cases DoNotPay considered for a trial of its robot lawyer, only two were feasible. "It's within the letter of the law, but I don't think anyone could ever imagine this would happen," Browder said. "It's not in the spirit of law, but we're trying to push things forward and a lot of people can't afford legal help.

A "robot" lawyer powered by artificial intelligence was set to be the first of its kind to help a defendant fight a traffic ticket in court next month. But the experiment has been scrapped after "State Bar prosecutors" threatened the man behind the company that created the chatbot with prison time. Joshua Browder, CEO of DoNotPay, on Wednesday tweeted that his company "is postponing our court case and sticking to consumer rights." Bad news: after receiving threats from State Bar prosecutors, it seems likely they will put me in jail for 6 months if I follow through with bringing a robot lawyer into a physical courtroom. Browder also said he will not be sending the company's robot lawyer to court.

A "robot" lawyer powered by artificial intelligence will be the first of its kind to help a defendant fight a traffic ticket in court next month. Joshua Browder, CEO of DoNotPay, said the company's AI-creation runs on a smartphone, listens to court arguments and formulates responses for the defendant. The AI lawyer tells the defendant what to say in real-time, through headphones. The artificial intelligence firm has already used AI-generated form letters and chatbots to help people secure refunds for in-flight Wifi that didn't work, as well as to lower bills and dispute parking tickets, among other issues, according to Browder. All told the company has relied on these AI templates to win more than 2 million customer service disputes and court cases on behalf of individuals against institutions and organizations, he added.