China is 'improving' its judicial system with artificial intelligence (AI) by suggesting legislation, creating papers, and identifying "seen human faults" in decisions.
Beijing's Supreme Court stated in an update on the system issued this week (per Daily Mail) that judges must now formally consult the AI on every case. Judges and lawyers should provide a written justification if they decide to deviate from its suggestion.
As a result of the AI's connection to police databases and China's Orwellian social credit system, it now can penalize individuals, such as by automatically listing a thief's stolen stuff for sale online.
Beijing has praised the new technology for "contributing significantly to the judicial advancement of human civilization." Still, opponents claim artificial intelligence risks ushering in a day when machines govern the planet.
WUHAN, CHINA - JULY 16: The view of Wuhan landscape on July 16, 2021 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. With no recorded cases of COVID-19 community transmissions since May 2020, life for residents in Wuhan is gradually returning to normal.
China Incorporates Artificial Intelligence in Its Judicial System
The Supreme People's Court in Beijing, China, claims that artificial intelligence has been incorporated into every aspect of China's judicial system and plays a part in every decision.
Xu Jianfeng, director of the supreme court's information center, in a report published on Tuesday in Strategic Study of CAE, an official journal run by the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said per South China Morning Post (SCMP): "The smart court SoS (system of systems) now connects to the desk of every working judge across the country."
The system, driven by machine learning technology, automatically checks court cases for references, suggests rules and regulations, creates legal documents, and, if necessary, changes verdicts that appear to have been tainted by human mistake.
According to a journal article, AI reduced the typical workload of judges by more than a third between 2019 and 2021, saving Chinese residents 1.7 billion working hours.
Additionally, it claimed that within the same period, society had saved more than US$45 billion (300 billion yuan), equivalent to all of China's legal expenses for the previous year.
Xu and his colleagues said in the same SCMP report that the widespread use of the intelligent court system has significantly contributed to the judicial growth of human civilization as an unheard-of engineering project.
How Artificial Intelligence Could Help Courts
A Tilburg University research said artificial intelligence could independently produce draft rulings in some legal matters. In practically all legal issues, AIs can provide helpful assistance to judges and court clerks. But even if an AI can increase effectiveness and quality, there is no denying human judges' importance in delivering justice.
Manuella van der Put's Ph.D. research, which she defended at Tilburg University, discovered many steps in the judicial decision-making process where AI might be helpful. The computer can make decisions on its own in some court cases (so far, just simple ones), and in practically all situations, it can provide helpful assistance to improve efficiency and quality further.
The system, for instance, was able to identify the facts of a case, verify information like the appeal period and the security deposit (whether a fine has been paid), analyze a case by connecting the data to similar topics in the database, and suggest a decision based on the most common outcome in similar cases in the relatively simple Mulder cases.
The data produced reduced waiting time and improved case law comprehension. If the system develops, it should also be able to use text blocks and formatting to create judgments and to defend the conclusion it makes using the justifications provided in prior circumstances.
As with legally significant data, the system has shown itself incapable of independently considering pertinent statute provisions and case law in the ultimate determination in particular situations. Van der Put concludes that judges and artificial intelligence are interdependent. Although it is evident that human judges provide value to the administration of justice, AI may significantly increase effectiveness and quality.
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