When Kara Peterson co-founded descrybe.ai, her vision extended beyond just creating another legal tech startup. She was on a mission to reframe access to legal information as a public health intervention, critical to societal well-being. Peterson, whose background spans public health and communications, has positioned her company at the forefront of democratizing legal knowledge by using AI to make over 3.3 million judicial opinions freely accessible to the public.

Peterson's initiative is rooted in the belief that justice, much like health, is a public good, and that legal accessibility is a crucial mechanism for its delivery. Growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, a community deeply committed to social justice, Peterson developed an acute awareness of how intertwined legal access is with broader systemic issues. She explains, "Access to the law is deeply connected to other systemic problems. This is a way to attack something that’s been broken for generations."

From her perspective, the lack of legal knowledge among the general public isn't an issue of intelligence but one of accessibility. Legal complexities often become a barrier only in times of crisis, such as during a job loss, eviction, or legal dispute. Peterson argues that by making legal information more understandable and accessible before crises occur, it can serve as preventive infrastructure, akin to public health measures like distributing hand-washing guides or vaccination instructions.

Addressing the skepticism often associated with AI in legal contexts, Peterson acknowledges the validity of concerns about machine bias. However, she points out that these biases are not new but are reflections of pre-existing human prejudices embedded within our systems. "If we had a judicial system that was completely fair and didn’t ever take people’s biases into account, that would be hard to match. But we know that’s not how it works," she remarks.

Peterson advocates for a pragmatic approach to AI, treating it like any new public health tool—by evaluating its safety, understanding its limits, measuring its impact, and maintaining human oversight to ensure context and accountability.

Peterson's work with descrybe.ai parallels efforts like those at TermScout, which aims to make contract terms clear and understandable, thereby empowering individuals with the knowledge they need before entering agreements. This approach not only reduces the harm caused by delayed understanding but also enhances individual agency.

In essence, Peterson and her team are not just innovating within the sphere of legal tech but are also addressing a broader societal issue: the justice gap. By treating legal access as a public health mission, they challenge the norm of accepting legal opacity and work towards a system that emphasizes clarity, fairness, and prevention over remediation.

As Peterson succinctly puts it, "The law is not just for the few. It is infrastructure. And when we treat access to it like a public health mission, we stop asking how much harm we can tolerate and start designing systems that prevent it altogether." This vision for a more accessible and equitable legal system could very well redefine how justice is perceived and implemented in the future.