The Telegraph reports that a university student has developed a way to provide free legal advice via Facebook Messenger to refugees who are looking for asylum in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Joshua Browder, who has been named a Forbes’ “Thirty Under Thirty” for his entrepreneurial prowess, first attracted attention last year for the legal-assistance bot DoNotPay, which has helped overturn more than 160,000 parking tickets in the U.K. and U.S.
Now the DoNotPay bot, which responds to written queries on Facebook’s Messenger app, is answering questions posed in Arabic and English about qualifications for asylum claims, and even advises asylum seekers how to fill out necessary forms.
Browder, who is not yet 21, developed the bot in his spare time while completing an undergraduate degree at Stanford. He calls DoNotPay “The World’s First Robot Lawyer,” and states on its website that his bot “can talk to you, generate documents and answer questions. It is just like a real lawyer, but is completely free and doesn’t charge any commission.”
Other legal matters the bot has addressed include compensation for flight delays and landlord-tenant issues.
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