Will Artificial Intelligence replace Judging?

This Article is written by RIYA KAUSHIK studying LL.B. in Geeta Institute of Law. Curated by Sahana Arya.

Artificial Intelligence is defined as any device which is capable of perceiving its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of successfully achieving its goals. It is a system which has the capability of correctly interpreting the external data, to learn from such data, and to use those learnings to achieve specific goals and tasks trough flexible adaptation.

Now, the Artificial Intelligence is blurring in one of the most complex areas of Human activity which is Judging.

In Hangzhou, a city in North China, justice delivery system is run by Artificial intelligence. Beijing and Guangzhou quickly followed this. These three Artificial Intelligence courts in China judge the disputes which are related to Online Transactions of goods and services.

Now the question is can Artificial Intelligence replace judging?

As the artificial Intelligence is progressing day by day, it has the capability to avoid potential pitfalls of human by using its technical potential.

“The application of artificial intelligence in the judicial realm can provide judges with splendid resources, but it can’t take the place of judges’ expertise,” said Zhou Qiang, the Head of the Supreme People’s court, who advocates smart systems.

The recent technological advancements have proved that it can do much more work then just transferring of data. But can it take better decisions than humans?

All the human decisions are affected by their personal biasness and prejudice. While the algorithm will not be affected by any such biasness. With the help of Artificial Intelligence, the decisions can be taken very quickly. The algorithm will present all the data within a few seconds.

In India, where the no. of lawyers is so vast but the judges to hear the cases is less, leads to pendency of a lot of cases. With the help of Artificial Intelligence, speedy trial can be made and the pending cases can be resolved very quickly.

The Artificial Intelligence system will treat all the Individuals equally and will not see them by their caste, race, sex or community.

But another question is that, can Artificial Intelligence can match up to Human Judging?

The answer to this is No!

Artificial Intelligence can take the decisions only on the bases of the data which is fed into it; if there is any fault in data, then the decision taken will also be wrong.

There will be no chance of going to superior authority if the party is not satisfied by the subordinate court’s decision; as the data fed into it will be same and there is no chance of any better recovery of decision.

Despite of so many advantages of Artificial Intelligence, this fact can’t be ignored that this too is prepared by a Human, & this can also be affected by the biasness of its inventor. There is also a question which is to be considered that if the decision taken by the system is correct or not, who will be responsible for that; who will check the authenticity of the decisions taken by the system.

Cyber Crime is also increasing day by day; and there is a lack of proper cyber security systems in India to avoid these crimes. It is easy to hack a system; the computers through which the decisions are to be taken can also be manipulated by the Men.

In the current scenario, when the pandemic of COVID-19 is spreading at great pace, Artificial Intelligence is used by many countries to take it as an aid to judicial proceedings. The hearings done by the courts of India are done through via Electronic Devices.

But completely relying on the system can not be fruitful; it puts a question on the authenticity of witnesses and trials. It doesn’t assure the confidentiality of the arguments. The system can also be failed, & in such a scenario all the data will be lost.

The day when Technology will become the judge of Good and Bad Human Behaviour and assigns appropriate punishments still lies some way in Future.

We can say that Artificial Intelligence can’t be used in place of judges; however, it can be used as an aid to the Judicial system to reduce the burden of the Judiciary. Many a problem can be resolved before it comes to judges with the help of Artificial Intelligence. The forensic of Documents can also be checked with its help.

Thus, it will be a great decision to use Artificial Intelligence in the Judicial System instead of replacing Judiciary.