The Extent and Limit of AI Application in Judiciary

Asoke K Laha, President & CEO of Interra Information Technologies

Hardly any day passes without any mention of Artificial Intelligence in media,  including print, electronic, social. The other day, Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya  Y Chandrachud highlighted at a legal conference how AI can be effectively used in reforming the justice system, streamlining administrative processes, reducing paperwork, and importantly speedy adjudication of disputes.  He was dealing with a growing trend to cut short the court delays and to prevent miscarriage of justice. 

I often try to measure progress or reform from an angle of how traditional ways are ignored and new methods are adopted to make things more transparent and easy to handle.  Using that yardstick, I often debate which segment consumes more paper, keeping the dictum segments that use less paper more streamlined and vice versa.  The government used to be a paper guzzler when everything used to move through written files. Files used to pile up on the desks of officials and every day, they spent considerable time clearing the files. There were strong rooms with lines of racks to keep the old files, which occupied considerable space and entailed the works of so many people. All those are history now. I believe that the use of paper has considerably come down. Save the paper is the new motto when high-configured computers with large storage facilities have become the rule.

There was a time when the education system used to consume paper in large proportions. That has come down considerably. I feel it will be still there at a reduced level since in the primary classes students  have to necessarily write down with pen or pencils, however they would like to fiddle with computer keyboards or tablets. That is important to steady the hands of the pupils at a young age and to build the connection and synchrony between their fingers and brains. The brain drives the child on what to write and how to writeWhatever may be the ability of a child to absorb things and interpret the acquired knowledge, he or she cannot escape completely from the writing drill. I do not visualize a complete exit of paper from the education system, although its use may come down drastically as education and its application move in the value chain. 

I do not know how many of us would know how the courts at various levels function. Every submission right from the start of a case till the time the final judgment comes out is reduced to writing. It is another matter that every submission has a soft copy. But there are hard copies kept and filed in the courtrooms. To wish away complete freedom from papers in the judiciary may be possible, but it may take years in India to reach that stage. Perhaps that may be the ideal goal that we may have to set, without prescribing any specific timeframe for achieving that.  In countries like India a complete paperless regime may be wishful thinking.  

Whatever we have discussed till now is the replacement of paper from our ordinary life. The Chief Justice alluded to a greater role of quantum tools in ensuring speedy delivery of justice. I do not know how Utopian that idea may be; still, I gather the courage to suggest them for making the orders and judgments most objective and rule-based with the least interference of subjectivity. Can judgments and other court pronouncements result from a process that uses data mining and the application of statutes?   

The ability of artificial intelligence to quickly process and evaluate enormous volumes of legal documents is well recognized. Using AI, the legal fraternity including judges can quickly and efficiently retrieve complete and pertinent information by sorting through statutes, case laws, and legal precedents. I sometimes feel that every case history I read is complex and interpretation of statutes objectively will be not only time-consuming but also the possibility of subjectivity cannot be ruled out. In some cases, there may be an overwhelming number of precedents and paperwork. AI not only speeds up research but also improves accuracy by seeing connections and patterns that a human might miss. 

Also, use of AI in the court system can lead to predictive analytics.  AI algorithms can forecast probable outcomes of ongoing legal cases by analyzing past data from those instances, not alone from the country in question but similar cases decided elsewhere. This helps judges comprehend potential precedents and the ramifications of their decisions. It can also help attorneys develop tactics to argue the cases. 

Artificial Intelligence has an impact on the judiciary that goes beyond legal research and decision-making to improve administrative efficiency. Court employees have less administrative work when regular activities like record-keeping, scheduling cases, and sorting documents are automated. Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled chatbots can respond quickly to routine questions, enhancing public access to legal information..

While AI increases accuracy and efficiency, it also poses serious ethical questions. The main issue is that AI systems may have built-in biases that are influenced by the data used to train them. AI may reinforce or even magnify preexisting biases if past legal data supports them. 

The moot question is: can we leave everything to AI in the judiciary? Justice is more than a mechanical process. There is a high degree of ethical considerations involved. Leaving everything to objectivity and rationality can lead to premises that can be inhuman and out of context.  To make sure that these cutting-edge instruments preserve the values of justice and equality, legislators, judges, and attorneys must collaborate to create ethical norms and rules for AI usage in court cases.

AI has the potential to streamline the legal system. It is also instructive to maintain the human element in legal decision-making. That calls for maintaining a partnership between legal experts and technologists that adheres to the strictest fairness and justice requirements.