2019 NLADA Annual Conference-Innovative Justice

This workshop will address advances in Artificial Intelligence and the impact of Machine Translation, including the allure of Machine Translation for under-resourced legal groups and agencies, including courts. We will provide examples of when and how using machine translation fails with legal language, and we will offer best practices and examples when it might be the exception to use these newer tools as a standard source for interpretations or translations. We will incorporate notions of cultural competency, implicit bias, and race equity to explain the harm of poor translation on those who speak a language other than English at home. The discussion will discuss how this community can create a standard of practice in the civil legal aid and public defender community that honors our ethical and legal obligations to provide competent and candid communication and representation. We hope to explore best practices of using AI responsibly, including voice recognition technology and simultaneous interpreter tools.