"Lawyer's 1-Year Task Solved in 1 Minute, No Certification Needed"... Legal Community Pushes Back

"Lawyer Solves a Case That Would Take a Year in Just One Minute"
Legal Community Raises Issues: "It's Illegal and Contains Errors"

An artificial intelligence (AI) application that replaces lawyer services has been launched in France. The French legal community immediately raised concerns, sparking controversy.

Image of a female lawyer drawn by AI. This photo is not related to the article content.

On the 12th (local time), the French daily Le Parisien reported, "An app called 'IAVOCAT,' developed by an entrepreneur from Lyon, appeared on the App Store on the 1st of this month."

This app, which offers legal advice for an annual fee of 69 euros (about 100,000 KRW, or 149 euros for the premium version), attracted attention as more than 20,000 people downloaded it within just ten days of its release.

The app, introduced as a legal-specialized AI similar to the AI chatbot ChatGPT, states, "It is based on court rulings and decisions from the past 50 years in France," and promotes its service by claiming, "It can solve in one minute what would take a lawyer a year, and although it does not have an official license, it can compete with any lawyer."

Artificial intelligence legal advice application developed in France
[Image source=Screenshot from IAVOCAT homepage]

In response, the French legal community opposed the app, stating, "Performing lawyer duties without an official lawyer license is illegal, and errors such as citing non-existent legal provisions in the app have been found." The Paris Bar Association even sent an official letter demanding the developer to stop the service.

Concerns have also been raised that personal information contained in the rulings used as data might be leaked, given that the app’s parent company is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The developer firmly stated, "The app will only be used to provide legal advice to internet users, some functions will be modified, but there is no intention to withdraw the service entirely."

Meanwhile, last year in the United States, a lawyer was summoned to a hearing after submitting a brief to the court containing fake precedents found by ChatGPT. At that time, The New York Times (NYT) commented, "Although concerns are growing that AI threatens the existence of many professions, this case shows that there is still a lot of time left."