Community Law Centres Release Chatbot to Help Workers

Community Law Centres o Aotearoa in partnership with Citizen AI has this week released a new chatbot for people having problems at work.

Workbot provides information about your rights and responsibilities as an employee. It uses easy to understand language in a conversational format. You can chat to Workbot through Facebook Messenger http://m.me/workbot.nz or at https://workbot.nz/.

Chief Executive of Community Law Centres o Aotearoa, Sue Moroney, believes Workbot will help improve access to quality legal information in an innovative format. "Thousands of people across the country are asking questions about employment law on their smartphones everyday.” says Sue. “Workbot is a fantastic response to this need and part of the future of access to justice in Aotearoa”.

Workbot is the second of three legal information chatbots produced with funding from the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation. The first chatbot, Rentbot (https://www.rentbot.nz/chat/ or https://www.facebook.com/rentbotnz/) was released last year and has already helped nearly 20,000 Kiwis with tenancy questions.

“We believe everyone should enjoy the protection and opportunity that the law provides. The chatbots make it easy to access free, accurate legal information - essential to helping people understand and access their rights. We were excited to support this innovative work,” said Michelle Wanwimolruk, Chief Philanthropic Officer for the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation.

Workbot has been developed by Citizen AI, a charitable organisation whose mission is to use artificial intelligence for public benefit. Citizen AI Executive Director Geoffrey Roberts says "Workbot is a great example of how we can leverage advances in natural language processing to create a tool that helps those experiencing problems in the workplace. This project also takes our technology a step further by including a case assessment feature that helps people understand employment law and how it relates to common problems at work. Workbot can help tackle the types of problems many people face as an employee and is available for a chat 24/7."

For more information about Workbot or Rentbot please contact geoffrey@citizenai.nz 027 392 5804.