At the Swadesh Conclave 2025, the discourse was defined by two compelling narratives—India’s resolute quest for sustained economic growth and the solemn affirmation that human values must remain at the core of justice. A new third strand emerged: leveraging artificial intelligence as a catalyst to help India become a developed nation by 2047.
Supreme Court Judge N. Kotiswar Singh issued a note of caution, warning that entrusting AI with judicial responsibilities would be “inherently risky and dangerous.” He reinforced that justice is deeply rooted in empathy, contextual understanding, and conscience—qualities no algorithm can replace, even in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
Speaking on the topic Transforming Bharat: Role of AI in Digital Age, Challenges & Legalities, Justice Singh said AI ignores human emotions and cannot authenticate data. Till data is verified, authenticated and fed for AI to analyse, it will be dangerous to use it to make decisions.
He added, however, that the digital age has empowered the justice system. For instance, digital technology has helped in mediation involving family disputes, for instance. E-filing, e-payment of court fees etc have been around for some time, Justice Singh said. Digital technology is best used in case management and can stop corruption there, he said.
One offshoot of digital technology, he noted, is that judges are now wary of making comments during hearings because it is picked up and reported.
Whatever was done physically can be done virtually now. Drafting petitions have become easier with computers coming in, in place of typewriters. Software is also being developed to aid lawyers file their cases, Justice Singh said.
But the legal system is yet to evolve a mechanism for AI to gain a formal entry into the justice system since the adequate app has not been developed, he said. He did concede that AI is likely to play a greater role in the future in the judiciary since it is always evolving.
AI expert Dr Vidushi Chaturvedi said that AI is mechanizing humans and making machines human. AI is thus changing the whole world. Today, we need to contribute what we can in the field of AI, she said.
Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai, who introduced Justice Singh, said the Supreme Court judge began his practice in Manipur and has climbed to the highest court of the land through sheer hard work.
He noted that Justice Singh is a simple individual and is proficient in Hindi since he studied in Delhi.