Discovery AI: Bridging the Gap between Small and Medium-sized Businesses and Lawyers
Written by Discovery AI
Our team is very grateful to have attended the LLM x Law Hackathon hosted by King's Entrepreneurship Lab at the University of Cambridge. It was an action-packed event that taught us a lot about the different ways that law can be bridged with technology. We first formed our team at the beautiful garden party, where we met other enthusiastic hackers and lawyers. It was a great chance to network with new people and to get to know a few friendly faces. We came together as a team with various backgrounds, each with unique ideas we were hoping to implement. None of us, however, had one clear and obvious concept; we felt the need to bounce all our ideas off each other to come up with a combined one.
The team that we assembled also allowed us to cover a lot of the different aspects we needed. Two of us handled the programming side, one helped with the law knowledge, and another helped us design the platform. Together we were able to work efficiently to create our cohesive product.
By the start of the day, we had an idea and immediately set to work following the opening ceremony which consisted of two guest speakers and a quick introduction to the hackathon. We all but locked ourselves in a room to focus our energies on the development. The idea, however, wasn’t set in stone. We kept adjusting it and fine-tuning it after talking to many legal professionals that served as mentors throughout the day. In the end, we built Discovery AI.
Discovery AI is a tool that helps SMBs solve smaller disputes, such as a non-payment dispute, that typically go unsolved. It works by allowing these SMBs to upload all of their case data into the platform. This data can be in the form of anything, such as audio, video, pdf, and images. Once uploaded Discovery AI does an in-depth analysis of all the evidence and determines the strengths and weaknesses of their case. It organises all of the evidence together and groups it by relevance to each other. Discovery AI also has a chat feature which allows the SMBs to further query any piece of evidence they upload. This helps them understand whether it is worth continuing this case and if they have a chance to win. Additionally, it’ll provide a cost estimation of how much it would cost lawyers to take on the case. If the SMB decides to take this case further, they will be connected to a lawyer through the platform and the lawyer will automatically get all the analysed case evidence passed to them. Discovery AI has the ability to bridge the gap between SMBs and lawyers to help them recover the huge amount of money lost annually due to legal issues. Additionally, we plan to expand our solution to further reduce the equal justice gap by expanding the demographic to include refugees seeking asylum and other minorities.
After submitting the project at around 6 PM, we had to present to the first round of judges. Once we had submitted our project a sigh of relief came over us. We had submitted the coding portion just 20 minutes before it was due. But, with not a moment to spare, we set to work perfecting our presentation. During the first round of judges, we were a bit tight on time, but felt that we were able to convey our product and its impact well. To our excitement, we were selected with 11 other teams to present in the final round. Following the exciting results, we poured our last remaining energy into practicing our final pitch. We went over all our slides and made our best effort to memorise it. There were a lot of nerves in the air, but we, after much repetition, we felt we were well prepared. We finally presented and were very happy with how it went. The judges asked a few questions, but we felt we were able to convey how our product worked and how well it could impact people in a positive way.
This hackathon was a lot bigger than just creating a project in 8 hours (though that alone is a feat!). It showed us how many different people with unique backgrounds can come together to create something amazing and have a fun time while doing so. Our team is so excited to have been able to participate and help further the intersection between AI and law. The legal sector is an incredibly long established industry and it is only now being innovated in new ways. The fuel that LLM’s can add to the industry is a huge opportunity for many people to create new ways to leverage the technology. We hope that more opportunities to bring together legal specialists and technologists can be provided so that this space can continue to thrive.
Discovery AI
Krish Iyengar is an undergraduate student at Purdue University, where he is studying computer science. He has experience bridging computer science with many other fields, like health and law, to create interdisciplinary solutions. He has worked at two internships, as well as launched his own startup within the AI space. He is eager to keep developing innovative tools and solutions that can help improve people's lives.
Jean Zwerger is a product manager in financial technology, recently graduated from a master's in data science at the London Business School. His impact as a founder's associate and inaugural product manager at a fast-growing startup earned him recognition as a "Young Leader Under 30" by FinTech Nation in Singapore.
Zaver Dhanani is an undergraduate student at Trinity College Cambridge, where he is pursuing a degree in Law and Economics. Zaver has experience working in the fields of venture capital and investment management. He hopes to use his passion for technology and entrepreneurship to make impactful contributions in business and society.
Noella Spitz is a software engineer currently working at the UK Research and Innovation Neutron and Muon Source, developing data analysis and simulation software for neutron scattering experiments. A passion for computers and technology has propelled her in her journey of being a self-taught developer and entrepreneur.