GIVEN the choice, who would you rather trust to safeguard your future: a bloodsucking lawyer or a cold, calculating computer? Granted, it's not much of a choice, since neither lawyers nor computers are renowned for their compassion. But it is a choice that you may well encounter in the not-too-distant future, as software based on "artificial intelligence" (AI) starts to dispense legal advice. Instead of paying a lawyer by the hour, you will have the option of consulting intelligent legal services via the web. While this might sound outlandish, experts believe that the advent of smart software capable of giving good, solid legal advice could revolutionise the legal profession.

WHEN it comes to the difficult problem of deciding who gets to keep the holiday home, the dog and the Barry Manilow albums, divorcing couples now have somewhere new to turn. Researchers in Australia have developed a computer program that relies on a branch of mathematics known as game theory to produce a fairer outcome when dividing property. Instead of the traditional approach of dividing a couple's property in half, the system, called Family Winner, guides the couple through a series of trade-offs and compensation strategies. According to John Zeleznikow, a computer scientist at Victoria University in Melbourne, who developed the software with his colleague Emilia Bellucci, the results are fairer because both parties end up with what they value most. The software was tested last year on 50 divorcing couples, with the outcomes evaluated by Victoria Legal Aid.