Robo-judges could settle parking fine disputes, suggests minister
ROBOTS could replace judges in dealing with parking fine disputes, the Justice Secretary has said.
David Gauke said that while there would be controversy about images being conjured of “bewigged robot judges” making decisions, the industry might be “happy” with artificial intelligence (AI) creating “simple tools to provide straightforward justice”.
Pledging £2million to help develop artificial intelligence for use in legal services, he noted that technological advances were already having a positive impact in the industry.
A series of law firms and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) are using so-called “robo-lawyers” to read through millions of pages of documents to carry out disclosure tasks and to create legal contracts.
An AI machine used by the SFO is able to read half a million documents a day, operating 2,000 times faster than a lawyer, Mr Gauke noted. Although he accepted that “we are some way off from seeing bewigged robot judges presiding in court rooms”, Mr Gauke said technology was “changing the way we live, work and access services”.
“We cannot ignore the speed at which technology is spreading and being integrated into all of our lives, and is throwing up some big ethical, regulatory and social questions. We need to tackle these head on,” Mr Gauke told an audience of legal professionals.
“Human lawyers have emotional intelligence and are regulated, with bias that is accounted for. AI, on the other
Pedal power
hand, operates on facts and numbers alone, is currently unregulated and data is only as unbiased as the hands and heads of its creators.”
Online portals have already digitised some services in the justice system in England and Wales. An online system
‘We cannot ignore the speed at which technology is spreading and being integrated into all our lives’
was rolled out to last year for uncontested divorces and small civil claims.
While the systems are running effectively, Mr Gauke said “we will need to ask some bigger questions”, including how AI can be used in “judicial decision making and in the administration of justice”. He continued: “While we might be happy with simple tools to provide straightforward justice – such as dealing with parking fines – how comfortable would we be with AI determining someone’s liberty?” The suggestion AI could settle parking disputes instead of the courts comes after a robot lawyer created by a teenager overturned tens of thousands of parking tickets in London and New York.
Mr Gauke suggested that technology could also be used by firms to speed up disclosure and improve services.
But he assured the audience at the AI in Legal Services Summit in London earlier this month that rather than taking people’s jobs it would create “more productive and more interesting jobs”.
Julie Burchill: Page 16