Challenging the Law with a Chatbot

Most college students relax over their winter break, eating good food and de-stressing from the previous semester. But when I first talked with Joshua Browder, a Stanford University sophomore, he was busy finishing up schoolwork. I was lucky he had time to talk in the middle of his busy schedule. He’s the founder of DoNotPay, a chatbot that helps overturn traffic tickets, and in a few days would be flying to London to meet with government officials about using his technology. Then off to Munich to speak at an international design and innovation conference.

Growing up in London, Browder started coding at age 12 in the programming language BASIC. Using a set of if-then statements, he was able to simulate a conversation with a set of prompts and responses. And while it was simple, being able to “talk” to a computer fascinated him.

When he turned 18 and got his driving license, he received so many traffic tickets that his parents eventually became fed up and said they wouldn’t pay for them anymore. But instead of spending his time in court, he created a chatbot to fight them.

Many people were skeptical about handing their legal issues to a computer program built by a teenager. They said DoNotPay was a terrible idea. Countless lawyers doubted that a robot could do their job better than they could. But he ignored them and continued to work.

“It’s important to have your own vision. If you have a good product and work hard then anything is possible.”

Robinhood of the Internet

Now that the “World’s First Robot Lawyer” has overturned more than 200,000 tickets, Browder has been featured in The Guardian, Business Insider, Wired Magazine and was recently the youngest person named in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Law and Policy.

While chatbots have become trendy in recent years, Browder isn’t impressed with the results. “Frankly, I’ve been really disappointed with what’s come out of the hype. A lot of these chatbots are being used for very simple things like ordering a pizza.”

He has bold aspirations for DoNotPay. He wants to build a platform where you can create a custom legal bot in minutes. His ultimate goal is to automate the entire legal process, completely cutting out lawyers, and giving people free access to justice.

“There’s so much social good that can be done.”

And he’s not simply reciting Silicon Valley platitudes. Browder has applied DoNotPay’s technology to helping homeless people find housing and Syrian refugees apply for asylum. He credits his parents for his desire to help others. “They’re probably the least technical people in the world but they’re very socially conscious and instilled the value of helping humanity.”

Advice for Students

While programs like DoNotPay have the potential to completely transform the legal industry, Browder doesn’t want students to be intimidated when they first begin coding. There’s been an explosion of resources that make programming accessible. Browder himself said that online forums and Youtube tutorials were crucial when he first started.

“Even if you create something terrible, it’s okay. I’ve made lots of terrible stuff in the past. But it’s important to create.”

Joshua Browder doesn’t consider being young a disadvantage. He believes young people that want to change the world should pursue their good intentions. He’s hopeful that as more young people enter the tech world, they’ll do more than just build things that are interesting- they’ll build things that help humanity.