Three years ago, an Artificial Intelligence program called AlphaGo famously beat Go Player Lee Sae-dol,... in a globally televised showdown.
Now, law practiotiners in Seoul have made way for Alpha Law,... testing just how efficient machines can be in the legal sector.
Oh Soo-young reports.
Korea's first ever showdown between human lawyers and artificial intelligence took place in downtown Seoul,... with the AI "Alpha Law" teams mostly claiming victory.
Lawyers teamed up with an AI legal analysis software to beat their human-only contenders in analysing an employment contact.
They had to identify crucial facts and areas for improvement in the document.
"It's not a test of human versus artificial intelligence. It's a test of whether AI can become a powerful tool to resolve various legal complexities and improve the quality of decision-making."
Alpha Law teams claimed the top three spots,... scoring 100 percent in all the standardized questions.
"Where there is data, there's much room for automation. This also applies in law, where the costs of legal consultation are high but lawyers are also overwhelmed with numerous cases and documents. We hope to expand this model to other forms of common contracts used in everyday life, like in real estate."
A new venture in Southern Seoul is already developing further uses for AI,... in order to help expand public access to quality legal assistance and consultations free of charge.
"By using AI algorithms and natural language processing, we offer a platform service that is as good as face-to-face consultations with a lawyer on legal contracts you need in everyday life."
Not only does it provide legal templates for contracts,... its new service launching next year will provide recommendations as well... catered to the user's need.
"In the past, automated template systems only helped fill in the blanks based on the user's request, but our new AI service will make recommendations on the type of contracts that they need, if they aren't sure which to fill out. As our program progresses, we hope to also highlight legal clauses, protection of rights, obligations, and other important details that the client may never have thought of."
The global market of legal tech has seen explosive growth in recent years,... with more than 220 million U.S. dollars being invested into the sector last year.
Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.