Artificial intelligence and access to justice at the ‘shop front’: the potential and limitations of meeting legal need through technology

In Australia, governments fund Community Legal Centres (CLCs) as part of the legal assistance sector (LAS) to meet the ‘legal needs’ of people experiencing disadvantage who cannot afford private legal services. Persistent unmet demand for CLCs is well-documented. To increase access to justice, the sector has been a long-time adopter of once-revolutionary innovations, like video conferencing. As artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in private legal practice to increase productivity and profits, some parts of the LAS are also exploring AI use cases. This article asks: What do we know about CLC clients and how services are currently delivered to meet their needs? What must we consider about client capabilities to ensure AI technologies are appropriate in the context of CLC service delivery? The research includes a review of policy documents, peer-reviewed research and grey literature, and secondary analysis of empirical data on how client capabilities contribute to the legal needs of CLC clients. We show in the article that the three-dimensional nature of legal need, a client’s capability and ability to self-assist, structural inequalities and current CLC service delivery models are vital considerations when developing AI tools to increase access to justice.