Supreme Court on AI in Judicial Administration

Supreme Court on AI in Judicial Administration

• The Supreme Court of India stated that Artificial Intelligence will not take over the judicial administration process in India.
• The statement was made while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking guidelines to prevent misuse of AI in courts.
• The Supreme Court observed that judges are conscious of risks associated with indiscriminate use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in judicial work.
  o Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) refers to AI systems capable of producing text, images, or content autonomously.
  Concerns with AI Use in the Judiciary
• One major concern is AI hallucination, which means AI generating false or fabricated information.
  o AI hallucinations could lead to fictitious judgments if used unregulated in legal reasoning.
  o AI hallucinations could also produce false research material that misguides legal arguments.
  ▪ An example occurred in the UK High Court, where lawyers submitted AI-generated legal arguments.
• The UK High Court case involved AI-generated citations to non-existent cases, showcasing the danger of hallucinations.
• Improper AI development or use may lead to disparate treatment between individuals.
• Disparate treatment refers to unequal or biased outcomes affecting certain groups.
• AI may also perpetuate existing biases embedded in training data.
• Another concern is lack of algorithmic transparency, which means the decision-making logic of AI is unclear.
• Lack of transparency makes it difficult to understand the rationale behind AI-assisted decisions.
• It also makes it difficult to assess fairness of AI-generated legal recommendations.
  Integration of AI in Judiciary
• AI is supporting access to justice by enabling early legal consultations.
• Early legal consultations are facilitated through AI chatbots and virtual assistants.
  o AI improves judicial productivity by helping identify genuine appeal cases.
  o AI enhances productivity by providing automated transcription of court proceedings.
  o AI assists judges in understanding case laws through efficient data analysis.
  ▪ An example of AI integration is Brazil’s VICTOR AI system.
• The VICTOR AI system in Brazil automates examination of appeals filed before the Supreme Court.
• AI contributes to clearing judicial backlogs by automating routine administrative tasks.
• AI supports backlog reduction by providing predictive analytics that help prioritise cases.
• AI also speeds up legal work by supporting automated legal research.
• An example from Greece shows AI facilitating automated document processing.
• Automated document processing in Greece helps achieve faster case disposal.