The recent report from the Australasian Institute for Judicial Administration (AIJA) on the use of artificial intelligence in court processes has raised the prospect of AI being used in Australian courts.
AI to Settle Small Contract Disputes
Moves are already underway in Estonia, dubbed the European Silicon Valley, to use AI for small contract disputes, with the Estonian Ministry of Justice highlighting the advantages of the technology to clear backlogs of cases. In practice, it would involve parties in small contract disputes uploading documents and other important information which the AI system would use in order to make a decision on the case. Both parties would be given the right to appeal the decision and have it examined by a human judge.
In its report, the AIJA highlighted the importance of ensuring that AI is used in appropriate court contexts. High-stakes cases or cases involving high levels of emotion would be inappropriate for AI. Furthermore, it is essential that checks and balances are in place to ensure that AI meets the requirements of the court. Most crucially, the AIJA has questioned whether AI would be accepted by the general public and litigants. In her speech entitled “Law in the Age of the Algorithm”, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, the Governor of New South Wales, questioned whether a decision issued by an AI system would deserve or be granted the same respect as a decision handed down by a human judge.
The Role of AI in Data Analytics
It is clear that the use of AI garners a range of different reactions when it comes to decision-making. While members of the public may be against this technology being used in court settings, there are less controversial uses, such as the use of AI to analyse patterns in sports. Artificial intelligence enables sports analytics companies to collect data on aspects such as total passes and tackles in a football match. This data can subsequently be employed by sports analysts to identify patterns.
Sports fans can take advantage of AI in sports betting to assess the probability of an event when they place bets on sites such as Unibet Australia on a variety of sports, from horse racing to golf or soccer. The insights gained via AI could potentially give users an advantage.
In the retail sector, operators such as US retailer Walmart, which have a large amount of data at their disposal, are also able to benefit from the advantages of AI to manage stock and recommend products to customers.
Recommendations Based on AI Algorithms
Developments in AI are encouraging other industries to use the technology to improve data analytics. Amazon makes extensive use of AI to recommend potential purchases to its customers. The company also uses AI software to direct its delivery drivers, although the technology has been criticised for sending Amazon drivers on “impossible routes”.
With almost 35 billion monthly visits, YouTube is the second most-visited website in the world, behind Google. As the most popular video streaming site, YouTube takes full advantage of AI algorithms. AI ensures that the videos it recommends are of high quality, which is achieved by measuring the total amount of time users have watched the videos. The AI algorithms subsequently use the same data to predict the likelihood of a user watching a video based on their viewing history. Nevertheless, the use of AI recommendations on YouTube has been criticised recently due to the failure to prevent Spanish language disinformation on the site.
Artificial intelligence already influences our everyday lives in a number of ways, so the use of the technology in court cases seems like the logical next step. However, as the AIJA has pointed out in its report, great care will have to be taken to ensure that AI is not only accepted by members of the public, but also respected in courts of law. While AI has a role to play, we are a long way from its use in emotional or high-level court proceedings.
