Intent Insight: How Artificial Intelligence Became a Lawyer in Court in Odesa

An Odesa journalist became the first in Ukraine to defend her rights in court without a live lawyer by consulting artificial intelligence. Her case sparked a discussion on the possibilities and limitations of AI application in legal practice.

Today, Intent Insight will discuss how to win a court case with the help of AI. This time, the guests of the studio are Odesa-based journalist Sasha Koren and lawyer Vitaliy Matveev. The conversation will be broadcast on our YouTube channel and Facebook page on Wednesday, November 12 at 19:00.

Recently, an interesting precedent for Ukrainian legal practice was set in Odesa - blogger and journalist Sasha Korin won a court case without a live lawyer. The journalist defended her interests on her own by consulting artificial intelligence.

What was the impetus for abandoning the traditional lawyer, what ethical or legal restrictions may apply to AI in court practice, and have we seen a sign of the future or just a funny precedent? These and other issues will be discussed live with the guests of the Intent.Institute studio.

In the summer, Oleksandra said that she was planning to go to court, but the services of lawyers were too expensive for her. As stated in the court's decision, the blogger's father died in Russia, which she learned about only on April 8, 2024, from a relative living there. She received a death certificate issued by the Russian authorities, but without an apostille, so the document had no legal force in Ukraine.

As she could not find an affordable lawyer, Oleksandra used the paid version of ChatGPT to prepare a court application, paying 199 UAH. The court rejected the first application and gave her five days to correct it, but later accepted it, opened proceedings, and on October 24, satisfied the claim.

In wartime, public opinion is particularly sensitive to the influence of media and government messages. In the previous issue of Intent.Insight, we discussed how information policy in wartime shapes public opinion and the level of trust in the government.

Анна Бальчінос