Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on Saturday said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools could be harnessed to optimise tasks such as research and drafting, but they cannot replace human judges.
Chairing the technical session of 36th LAWASIA conference at Bengaluru on the theme ‘Technological Developments and the Law,’ the Supreme Court judge said that technology could not replace the human mind as the continuous thought process of a judge was important.
Talking about the use of AI to assist lawyers and judges, he said the speed of research and drafting increased. However, a word or caution had to be exercised as a judge operated from the mind and the heart.
Stating that he was a little conventional when it came to technology such as ChatGPT, he said he was not comfortable in outsourcing judgement writing to Chat GPT.
Justice Kaul said that AI and other digital tools were a useful servant, but they should not be made the master. There was no guarantee that AI systems will be in line with fundamental principles, he added.
He further emphasised on the need for judges to interact with the society. He said a person did not become a good judge by merely shutting himself/herself away from society. The role of a judge was not cut off from society or technology.
He added that his interactions with different sections of the society helped him in understanding certain areas of law better such as the use of technology in law.
Calling judicial propriety a wide concept, Justice Kaul said being merely anti-social did not create a good judge.
Speakers on the panel were called to deliberate on the role of the internet, innovations such as e-courts and machine intelligence tools such as Chat GPT and their impact on the process of adjudication.
Other speakers at the session chaired by Justice Kaul included Sri Lankan Supreme Court judge Justice Arjuna Obeyesekere, Justice Sapna Malla of the Nepal Supreme Court and Justice Naima Jaider of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.
The 36th LAWASIA Conference 2023 started on November 24 and will continue till November 27. This year’s theme for the four-day event is ‘Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.’