Adopting AI and fighting fake news

Atty. Cayosa said he wants to help local lawyers in honing their legal skills by adopting available technology, in particular AI. He narrated the successful adoption of AI in China to automate legal services.

Japan leads in developing and adopting artificial intelligence (AI) in addressing their scarce manpower resources by employing robotics to handle menial labor tasks. But have you heard that even China — which has the highest population in the world — has also entered the AI scene, adopting the maturing AI technology to automate legal services in several communities of the mainland?

It is absorbing to learn about this from national president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Atty. Domingo Egon Q. Cayosa, who together with International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines president Belle Tiongco, discussed the technology during an online talk show organized recently by Daily Tribune.

Besides my regular role as head of Meralco’s public information office, I am honored to be appointed chairman of IABC Philippines.

During the show, Atty. Cayosa said he wants to help local lawyers in honing their legal skills by adopting available technology, in particular AI. He narrated the successful adoption of AI in China to automate legal services.

The way it works, according to Atty. Cayosa, is very simple. A local Chinese citizen with a legal concern all has to do is to approach government centers, and with the aid of a machine similar to an ATM, can conveniently and easily avail of legal work and consultancy services.

The local Chinese only has to plug in their concern, key in the important details, which the AI processes using a legal database. The AI system then presents recommendations and probabilities of the legal case’s success. The system also even prepares the contract and legal documents.

According to Atty. Cayosa, using AI in the legal sector in China has proven to be a big hit, more accurate, efficient and quicker than the tedious manual way. While there are still limitations when it comes to the inclusion of foreign law, the Chinese automated legal machines’ effectiveness proves that industries like business communications and the legal field are continuously improving efficiencies and accuracy, all in the quest for truth and justice.

Perhaps the Philippine government can seriously study and research how to adopt China’s AI-aided legal service in our country. It is always prudent to be proficient in the traditional methods in any field, but it is also inevitable and crucial that we develop new skills and adopt the newest and latest innovations.

The online digital talk show was timely and relevant as IABC and IBP discussed and agreed to pursue a common cause: promote, embrace and utilize technology, innovation and social media in the area of business communications and law.

We also agreed that both our industries must uphold facts and truth as the central component of our work. Media practitioners and lawyers strive to use facts in order to ensure truth above all. Inherent in this is both our commitment to proactively combat fake news by striving to wage this war respectively in seeking the truth, sifting through content to ensure that what gets out to the public is accurate and truthful.

Another important point which IABC and IBP also aligned was the need for communicators and lawyers to accept and embrace the advent of new technology to level up performance on a global scale. We simply cannot be left behind by other countries in the world, especially in the Southeast Asia region.

It was a delight for IABC to collaborate with IBP in communicating our common cause using the digital platform of Daily Tribune, and encourage our members to be heard and to provide Filipinos with convenient access to legal information.

I agree with Atty. Cayosa that it is not enough to be a sentinel in law courts, but legal counsels must also commit to empowering Filipinos and informing them with legal expertise. This is similar to what IBP advocates — “be seen and be heard.”

We are on the same page as IBP that at the end of the day it is about synergy, partnership and working with other sectors to provide the public with accurate, and easy-to-comprehend messages that they can fully appreciate. Together with IBP, we can combat fake news, be authentic and bring this principle of truth to the partnership, ultimately benefiting the public.

IABC will continue to aid IBP to push their advocacies, guide the lawyers in crafting their communications, and doing our part in creating a better and brighter Philippines.