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With an AI-powered chatbot, PaidLeave.ai helps parents-to-be claim paid time off

When trying to figure out how much paid leave they're entitled to, parents-to-be often need to parse through complex information and a patchwork of laws, followed by a labyrinth of bureaucracy to actually request and access those benefits. Which is why Moms First has launched PaidLeave.ai, a tool aimed at simplifying how New York parents access paid family leave.

PaidLeave.ai uses OpenAI's GPT-4 to untangle the process. Pulling data from New York State's Paid Family Leave, the tool allows expecting parents to ask questions and receive plainspoken answers on what they're entitled to. Sample questions include "I'm having a baby, and I don't know where to start" and "How do I coordinate leave between my job and my partner's job?" Besides parental leave, PaidLeave.ai also helps navigate benefits for people caring for family members, those requiring personal medical leave, and families of service members called to active duty.

Since figuring out eligibility is only part of the journey, PaidLeave.ai helps navigate paperwork, emailing users an action plan of steps to take, forms they'll need to fill out, and documents to bring to their HR manager. Information is provided not only in English but also in Spanish and Chinese. Reshma Saujani, who founded both Moms First and Girls Who Code, developed PaidLeave.ai in collaboration with Craig Newmark Philanthropies and Novy.ai. The tool was launched in December 2023 and Moms First is working to roll out to other states as soon as possible.

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PaidLeave.ai is addressing problems specific to the United States; many other countries offer more comprehensive family leave benefits and easier ways to access them. As Reshma Saujani notes, "One in four new mothers goes back to work within two weeks of giving birth and more than 90% of Americans who are low-income don't have a single day of paid leave."

But even when benefits are available, people can struggle to determine what they're entitled to and how to submit claims. In the US, research by the Brookings Institute found that paid leave at the state level is underutilized. In other countries, lack of awareness or difficulty wrangling paperwork can similarly cause people to miss out on benefits.

Within companies, chatbots are increasingly implemented to help employees navigate complex HR policies and find straightforward answers to their questions. Because these types of chatbots use limited language models, risks of hallucinations and other false information are minimized. Which inscrutable information could your organization unlock with an AI-powered tool, for your customers or your employees?

5 February 2024

Innovation of the day

Photo by: Matilda Wormwood