Technology

Ever since the introduction of dot com in 2000, technology has continued to evolve, and it has carried our lives with it. Today, most of our daily activities are centered on technology. For example, it's easier to communicate with a loved one using a smartphone instead of telegrams that were used in the past.

Other than our personal lives, technology has significantly impacted businesses across various industries such as manufacturing, hospitality, and supply chain, to mention a few. For instance, some repetitive job processes such as packaging in manufacturing are being done by robots. Apart from manual jobs, technology such as machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used in industries that are considered human-centered such as law.

Insurance companies, courts, and lawyers use technology to ensure they deliver on their job effectively. So, what’s AI, and how is it changing personal injury claims?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Personal Injury Claim.

Artificial Intelligence is a computerized technology used to perform tasks that are ideally done by human beings. AI is known for mimicking human intelligence. Law, on the other hand, is human-based. It seeks to settle human-related disputes, and human beings practice it. Since AI is focused on performing actions done by human beings, it has penetrated even to practicing law.

Specifically, AI is being used in personal injury claims. Personal injury cases are disputes that crop up when someone is injured or harmed due to another person's actions. According to personal injury law, the party responsible for the injury must pay the wounded person money to cover their resultant medical bills and other bills they can't attend to while in pain. Most of the time, insurance companies are involved in the compensation process of personal injury claims. You can learn more here about personal injury claims.

Here's how AI has changed personal injury claims

It Has Increased the Speed of Processing Claims

Traditionally, when a claim is filed, the claimant attaches many documents, including a doctor's report, medical expenses, and a police report. The insurance company has to have somebody review all the records and ensure they’re valid, process the claim, and pay it out. This process can sometimes be unnecessarily long and tedious since it's reliant on human labor.

AI is being used to replace human labor, making the process more time-efficient and saving on salaries. Artificial intelligence is being used to predict the outcome of claim cases that are considered common and simple to handle.

The process involves feeding machines incorporated with AI with data on past cases that are similar. The devices will analyze the data to find patterns on how the past claims were solved. Once it establishes a pattern, it can tell what case stands a chance in court as well as the amount of compensation. Therefore, the process of processing a claim is quicker, with fewer errors, and it's more streamlined.

It Is Used to Automate Clerical and Office Administration Tasks

Law professionals are known for their endless paperwork and documentation. As such, law firms usually have invested in office administration and clerks to handle these paperwork and other tasks that ensure the smooth running of the firms. Some of the clerical and office administration work includes

  • Answering phone calls
  • Scheduling appointments
  • Creating and updating client files
  • Customer services
  • Handling online presence of the firm
  • Receiving clients at the reception

While some of these tasks like reception are yet to be automated, most of the other tasks today are done by machines. For example, websites have chatbots that help you navigate the platform.

Other than that, firms are coming up with an automated process to self-schedule appointments and cancel and reschedule them at will. Therefore, an injured claimant doesn't have to make unnecessary trips to the office while in pain. They can handle their appointment while recovering at home.

Paperwork is also being significantly reduced by using digital documents and digitizing claim processing.

AI Is Used for Effective Research

According to ABA's annual Legal Technology Survey Report, lawyers spend about 17% of their time conducting legal research. The legal research process has evolved from using hard books, journals, and documents to online research platforms like Westlaw. These platforms were founded over four decades ago, with an example of Westlaw, which was founded in 1975.

Researching using these platforms will force the lawyer to go through miles of materials before finding one that fits their needs. As such, researching takes more time, and it's often frustrating to read through. AI is being used to eradicate this problem, especially in personal injury claims that require prompt action.

Law firms use machine learning technology to organize research material according to relevance. The technology is programmed to learn what the user wants and give them the most relevant results according to the request. It also offers additional information that would be helpful to the specific personal injury claim case.

Ultimately, the process of researching is streamlined and lawyers can research effectively and move on to more demanding legal tasks like settling the injury claim.

Legal Is Automated

If you’ve been avoiding following through with the personal injury case due to the taxing work it requires, here's some great news. Technology has streamlined the process; your only job is finding a law firm that has embraced AI and other modern technologies.