The Future Is Now: Law Firm Hires First Artificially Intelligent AttorneyBy Jake Anderson Designed as a self-learning algorithmic tool, Ross is capable of most basic cognitive skills and possesses fine-tuned research abilities. This includes providing citations. Ross will join Baker Hostetlers team of 50 lawyers specializing in bankruptcy cases.* You ask your questions in plain English, as you would a colleague, and ROSS then reads through the entire body of law and returns a cited answer and topical readings from legislation, case law and secondary sources to get you up-to-speed quickly, the website says. In addition, ROSS monitors the law around the clock to notify you of new court decisions that can affect your case. With the legal industry already oversaturated, ROSS Intelligence CEO and co-founder Andrew Arruda recently spoke at a legal conference. He stated: Were standing on day one of artificial intelligence in law. Ross will be used primarily as a research tool, as its ability to quickly synthesize vast numbers of case files and extract relevant source material could prove invaluable. The announcement comes in the wake of a series of startling news stories related to artificial intelligence and robots. Recently, Google revealed it had been feeding its A.I. bot thousands of romance novels and that it had started writing strange, post-modern poetry. Earlier this year, IBM partnered with the company Softbank to manufacture humanoid robots for use in retail stores. Another strange story appeared on Gizmodo last week when computer science students at Georgia Techs School of Interactive Computing learned that the teaching assistant they had been interacting with for the entire term was actually an artificial intelligence program. The integration of Ross into a legal firm marks another development in the precarious balance we now see in humans using artificial intelligence as assistance tools. How long it will take before an artificial intelligence entity tries an actual court case remains to be seen. *Editors note: According tothewebsite of the law firm now employing Ross, BakerHostetlers White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations Team is among the nations leaders in all aspects of corporate criminal defense and enforcement-related litigation. Our team includes some of the countrys most experienced and seasoned lawyers who are dedicated to protecting businesses Coincidently, one of the firms three original partners,Newton D. Baker, served asSecretary of War forWoodrow Wilson during World War I.BakerLaw.comalso promises the firm will, This article (The Future Is Now: Law Firm Hires First Artificially Intelligent Attorney) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Jake Anderson and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org. A Commodore 64 would be smarter than most attorneys. I guess the upside is the robot will actually do the work. The downside is billable hours will be 24/7. 