Paragrafo or a general AI assistant
Short answer
Both use a language model; they differ in what the model is given. A general assistant answers from what it has learned, or from what it finds on the internet, and with Slovak law you have no certainty which time version of the legislation the answer comes from. Paragrafo searches a database of wordings loaded from the official Slov-Lex register, attaches the specific provision and a link to the source to the answer, and knows which wording of the act it is. For general questions the difference is small. For a question whose answer was changed by an amendment, it is decisive.
There is no point claiming that general assistants are unusable for law. They are good for understanding a concept, for a first draft of a text and for finding out what you need to ask about at all. In many ways they are better than our tool, because they are not bounded by anything.
The difference is in verifiability. In law a correct answer is not enough, you need to know where it comes from, because a claim without a source can be neither checked nor defended. That is exactly why every answer in our advice service states the provision and a link to it.
The second difference is time. An act has time versions and a question such as how many days a customer has to withdraw from a contract has a different answer depending on which wording applies. A model that does not know which wording it is answering from does not know about that difference and will not point it out to you.
The difference, criterion by criterion
- Where the answer comes fromParagrafo:From a database of wordings of legislation loaded from the official register. The text of the provision it is based on is attached to the answer.General AI assistant:From learned data, or from search results. The source of a particular claim need not be apparent.
- Wording of the legislationParagrafo:We know which time version is used and we monitor when it changes.General AI assistant:As a rule undetermined. The model does not distinguish between the wording before an amendment and after it, unless the source states it expressly.
- Section numberParagrafo:What is cited is what was found in the database. Where the model is not sure of a number, it states the name of the regulation instead of an invented number.General AI assistant:A section number is ordinary text for a model, so it can also be produced when no such section exists or when it is about something else.
- ScopeParagrafo:Slovak law. The product does not cover other jurisdictions and says so.General AI assistant:Unbounded, which is an advantage for general questions and a disadvantage for a question tied to one country.
- OutputParagrafo:A document saved in your account, with version history, export and the option to share it by link.General AI assistant:Text in a conversation. Anything further with it is up to you.
- Labelling of AI outputParagrafo:Documents generated by a model are labelled in the application, and answers in the advice service state that they are output of artificial intelligence.General AI assistant:Depends on the particular service.
When the other option is better
These are the cases in which we do not recommend Paragrafo to you. They come before the reasons for us deliberately.
You want to understand a concept or a connection
For explaining what a non-compete clause is or how liability for defects works, a general assistant is fast and good.
It concerns law other than Slovak law
Our corpus contains Slovak legislation. With the law of another country we cannot help you and we say so openly.
It is not about law
A business email, a product description, a summary of a meeting. A general tool is more suitable and cheaper for that.
You need free creation, not precision
A first draft of a text that you will rewrite entirely anyway. Being bounded to a verified wording is more of an obstacle in that case.
When Paragrafo is a good fit
You need to be able to defend the answer
In front of a customer, an inspection or a colleague. A claim with the provision stated can be verified, a claim without it can only be believed.
The question concerns something that has recently changed
Consumer law in Slovakia went through a recodification in 2024. Answers based on an older wording are systematically wrong in this area.
A document is meant to come out of the answer
A text that will go on a website or into a contract needs a version, an export and the option to come back to it in a year. A conversation does not provide that.
You want to know when the answer stops applying
We monitor changes in legislation and alert you when the one your document rests on changes. A general assistant will not return to an old conversation.
Common misconceptions
A model cannot invent a section number
It can. A number is ordinary text for a language model and it can be produced even when no such section exists or when it governs something entirely different. That is why only a claim with a source stated that can be opened is worth anything.
Once an assistant has internet access, it is solved
Search improves the chance of an up-to-date source, but it does not deal with the difference between time versions of an act. Old versions of texts stay on the internet and look just as trustworthy as new ones.
Your advice service is also just a language model, so it is the same thing
The model really is the same kind of tool. The difference is what it gets as input: the wording of specific provisions retrieved from a database, not just the question. That is why the answer rests on the text of the act, and that text is visible alongside it.
Frequently asked questions
Does Paragrafo use a language model?
Yes. The difference from a general assistant is not whether a model is used, but that it retrieves the wording of specific provisions from a database loaded from the official register and builds the answer on them.
Can your answer be wrong too?
Yes, and that is stated with every answer. That is why the claims cite the provision with a link to the source, so that you can verify them, and why we recommend a lawyer in a borderline case.
Do you also answer questions about European Union law?
Yes. We hold the verified wording of three regulations: the GDPR, the AI Act and the EU trade mark regulation. A regulation applies directly in Slovakia, so we cite it just as we cite a statute. Directives are deliberately not in the database, because they bind the state rather than the business; instead of a directive we cite the Slovak act that transposed it. For other EU legislation the advice service names the act and says that the exact article has to be checked on EUR-Lex.
Where to check this in the law
This page compares approaches, not provisions, which is why it deliberately carries no section numbers. The verbatim wording from the official register is with the individual topics.