Machines cannot replace human decision-making in a judicial system.

Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India, Mr. Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, says that while AI can provide assistance and information for the evaluation of the merits of a case, it cannot replace the element of human decision-making in a judicial system. (Bar and Bench)

CJI Bobde was speaking at the launch of the report on “Responsible AI for the Indian Justice System” compiled by the Vidhi Centre of Law and Policy along with TCG Crest.

AI’s role limited to delivering information and assistance

According to CJI Bobde (pictured above), the role of AI in the judiciary should be restricted to the extraction and presentation of information at speed. However, the technology cannot substitute the reasoning and emotions that are essential components of a rational judicial decision.

“How to extract information, is where AI in the judiciary must end according to me. Finding out the latest position in law according to me is an important tool. We must not allow AI to determine the outcome of a case,” he said.

CJI opposed to automated decision-making

“I have persistently opposed automated decision making. It is not possible for a system of justice to accept a machine however intelligent to replace a human decision,” the CJI observed.

“There is a lot of emotional basis to a (judicial) decision, which AI cannot reach. Hence I have opposed algorithmic reasons for decisions in court,” he added.

CJI Bobde said that in the current decade the Indian judiciary will take recourse to technology and deploy AI to enhance its capability to deliver justice.

However, he made clear that AI must rest on a bedrock of ethical principles and align with the constitutional rights of citizens.

“We will also not allow it to tell us what to decide when to decide. We will only use it to provide all the information at a high speed,” CJI Bobde stated.

“Where we rely upon judicial technology to aid a judicial decision, it must be subject to the final consideration of a human (mind),” he said.

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