Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Monday said that the judiciary of the future has nothing to fear from artificial intelligence (AI) which cannot substitute judicial reasoning but act as an enabler for better decision making.
Speaking on the 4th Ashok Desai Memorial Lecture in Delhi, CJI said, “AI will surely not replace judicial reasoning but its role will become enormous in sifting through vast volumes of material, identify relevant precedents, and present structured insights, enabling judges to devote their attention to interpretation, fairness, and the human consequences of their decisions.
While a degree of apprehension about AI is understandable, CJI said, “It is equally important to recognise that we stand at the threshold of a generational shift. With careful design and appropriate regulatory frameworks, these systems can serve as powerful aids, especially in areas that are burdened by repetitive and time-consuming tasks, and which do not call for the nuanced judgment that only a human mind can provide.”
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Sharing his views on “Reimagining Justice: The Indian Judiciary 50 years hence”, CJI said, “The Indian Judiciary of 2076 will not be defined solely by the technologies it adopts or the structures it builds. It will be defined by its ability to remain moored in constitutional values while adapting to a world that is changing in ways we are only beginning to understand.”
He said, “Justice cannot be measured only in orders delivered or decrees pronounced. Its real strength lies in the confidence it inspires in the ordinary citizen.” Looking into the future, even as he predicted law to become increasingly sophisticated in its methods, he said, “It must remain deeply attentive to the human condition. Efficiency must not come at the cost of empathy, and innovation must not displace accessibility.”
While predicting the future of judiciary, CJI detailed the roadmap of future cases and how judges should be equipped to handle them. “The very idea of a judge will undergo an immense transformation,” he said, presuming questions of synthetic biology, deep-sea mining or conflicts between entities in virtual space that may require the judge of the future to be an “extremely nuanced and interdisciplinary thinker.”
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The future of financial transactions may increasingly take place within decentralised ecosystems, governed not by national boundaries but by coded protocols and climate concerns will no longer remain within the domain of policy alone, CJI said. The increasing use of drones and automatic vehicles in delivery of goods will challenge the applicability of conventional laws, he added.
“The character of justice must evolve,” CJI said, while stating, “Our endeavour must be to nurture a system of justice which, fifty years from now, is more accessible, more responsive, and more closely integrated into the lives of citizens.”
