a16z Podcast

The Robot Lawyer Resistance

Steph Smith and Joshua Browder

Posted March 1, 2023

What happens when you don’t have the resources to fight for your rights? Whether it’s a major medical bill or a more minor parking ticket… even if you were in the right, is it easier to just… pay?

Well, Joshua Browder’s answer is Do Not Pay!

He’s built a thriving company of the same name, that helps consumers “fight corporations, beat bureaucracy, and sue anyone at the press of a button.” Through the power of technology, DoNotPay has resolved over 2m cases successfully and in this interview we get to hear where Browder hopes to take the organization, including his first-hand account of his recent plan to bring the robot lawyer into the physical courtroom.

Show Notes

00:00 – Introduction

01:51 – DoNotPay’s origin

03:09 – Surprising laws

05:49 – General counsel for consumers

06:54 – The role of AI and technology

09:26 – Ensuring quality counsel

13:19 – Prioritizing features

14:43 – Corporate pushback

17:11 – Reshaping the legal system

20:28 –  Entering the physical courtroom

24:50 – Cross border possibilities

26:14 – Looping humans into modeling

29:01 – Deflationary impacts

30:05 – Recent pushback

33:13 – Is AI already writing law?

35:15 – Why is law so complex?

37:54 – Entering the Supreme Court

38:38 – Lawyer support

39:47 – Looking forward

43:07 – Building horizontal vs vertical

45:28 – Does this law exist?

More About This Podcast

The a16z Podcast discusses the most important ideas within technology with the people building it. Each episode aims to put listeners ahead of the curve, covering topics like AI, energy, genomics, space, and more.

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