China Applying AI to Court Proceedings

As reported by CGTN, the Chinese judiciary has decided to take an interesting step in applying AI to its proceedings. The original scope for the experiment was to apply the technology to criminal proceedings in the Intermediate People’s Court. The system would be used for transcription, identification of parties, and the processing of evidence. It has been touted as assistant to improve the efficiency of the judiciary, by reducing the time it takes to process evidence and information presented by parties. Although, it’s usage takes place throughout the procedure, the amount of influence at hands-on outcomes is not exactly clear.

There are even plans by the Hangzhou Court of the Internet to introduce these systems in online proceedings and civil litigation. The intention would be to reduce the reliance of having parties appear in court itself and conduct everything in a remote fashion to improve efficiencies. There has been talk of introducing AI within the judiciary for well over a year to improve access to litigation services, provide guidance support, automate risk analysis, and to manage a submissions, just to name a few proposed suggestions.

The step taken by the Chinese judiciary brings within its folds the opportunity to build systems that are far more efficient, especially in a large country like China. However, risks of bias that result from the usage of AI continue to remain a concern when incorporating AI within any workflow. How, how if at all, these concerns can be addressed remains to be seen. Nonetheless, from a long-term perspective it is a welcomed position.