Machine judge predicts verdicts

An AI “judge” has correctly predicted verdicts of the European Court of HumanRights with 79% accuracy.

Computer scientists devised an artificially intelligent programme able to weigh up legal evidence and moral questions of right and wrong. The algorithm scoured English language data sets for 584 cases relating to torture and degrading treatment, fair trials and privacy. The programme analysed the information and arrived at its own judicial decision.

Lead researcher Dr Nikolaos Aletras, from University College London, said: “We don’t see AI replacing judges or lawyers, but we think they’d find it useful for rapidly identifying patterns in cases that lead to certain outcomes.”