Excerpt from Justice Rising on Medium:
Kristen Sonday, CEO at Paladin and co-chair of LSC’s Emerging Leaders Council, discussed the implications of DoNotPay’s controversial chatbot earpiece experiment that aimed to provide users with real-time legal guidance. Sonday expressed disappointment at the “gamification” of legal outcomes and the risk of discrediting justice tech innovations.
Sonday specifically referenced justice tech founders like Courtroom5’s Sonja Ebron, stating they “set out to solve justice-related problems because they are deeply personal to us, and deeply important to humanity.” She argued technologists must build responsibly and collaborate with stakeholders. While bold experimentation could expand access to justice, understanding real human impacts is critical.
Sonday concluded that rather than discounting justice tech due to one organization’s missteps, investors should learn and continue supporting comprehensive solutions like Courtroom5.
– Kristen Sonday for Justice Rising
