World’s first AI ‘lawyer’ to deal with flight delay compensation unveiled

The world’s first artificial intelligence-powered lawyer for the travel industry has been unveiled by flight delays compensation firm AirHelp. Named Herman, the ‘lawyer’ has taken four years to develop and has been “fed” with case law from thousands of proceedings … Continue reading →

The world’s first artificial intelligence-powered lawyer for the travel industry has been unveiled by flight delays compensation firm AirHelp.

Named Herman, the ‘lawyer’ has taken four years to develop and has been “fed” with case law from thousands of proceedings in more than 30 jurisdictions.

When a claim is submitted into the system, Herman automatically sifts through the relevant details – such as operating airline, departure airport, arrival airport and passenger country – to suggest the best options for legal action, reducing the possibility of human error.

AirHelp says the process could take up to 20 minutes if done manually and that Herman can reduce the time it takes to research a claim by 1200% and “significantly cut costs of the legal service”.

The firm says just two per cent of eight million passengers entitled to flight disruption compensation will file for the compensation they deserve, leaving more than £2 billion in reimbursement untouched each year.

Christian Nielsen, AirHelp’s chief legal officer, said: “AirHelp’s mission is to help consumers get the money that they are legally entitled to following disrupted or delayed flights. As a business, we cannot change the regulatory rules and laws that govern flight compensation, but we are determined to see how we can make the process smoother, faster and fairer for consumers. Herman is an industry first, using AI in a way that will transform the speed of making claims and hopefully encourage more consumers to claim what is rightfully theirs.”

Herman was tested on 35,000 claims, and in that period identified a jurisdiction in less than a second. It can run more complex bookings with several flight segments and has a worldwide database of airline headquarters and branches.

The company has plans to use the technology for other types of legal disputes in the future.