The NIJ report predicts that much more advanced chatbots, including those that measure emotions and mimic empathy, are likely to be introduced into the criminal justice system. — ReutersWhen the US state of New Jersey lifted a Covid-19 ban on foreclosures last year, court officials hatched a plan to handle the incoming influx of cases: train a chatbot to respond to queries.
It urged the government to study the “very limited utility of chatbots, the potential dangers of over-reliance, and collateral consequences of widespread adoption”. Its developers are trying to build more tailored services, allowing people to ask for personal information such as their court date. Last year, the Identity Theft Resource Center – a nonprofit that helps victims of identity theft – tried to train a chatbot to respond to victims outside working hours, when staff were not available.
Emily Bender, a professor at the University of Washington who studies ethical issues in automated language models, said carefully built interfaces to help citizens interact with government documents can be empowering.