Ticket-Fighting Robots
Described as "the world's first robot lawyer," DoNotPay is a free online program that helps drivers appeal traffic tickets by walking them through drafting appeal letters.
Using artificial intelligence, a chatbot asks users a series of questions to select the appeal most likely to actually get the ticket overturned.
While this service is only available to citizens of New York City and London right now, drivers there are already benefiting handsomely from it. According to British newspaper The Guardian, DoNotPay has a success rate of 64 percent, and has aided in squashing over $4 million worth of penalties.
This isn't the first effort from the service's young creator, Joshua Browder. Currently a student at Stanford University, he has already put his coding skills toward other good uses, including a service programmed to help those with HIV disclose their health status to past sexual partners, creating a permanent and anonymous record via the blockchain.
This article originally appeared in print under the headline "Ticket-Fighting Robots."