Justice For The Intelligent By The Artificially Intelligent

Author(s): Lubna Yusuf

Originally published on Towards AI.

A New Beginning Of An End

LegalTech and Open Law

Open Internet and digital boom will soon lead the way to technology solving legal problems.

With a growing pace of quick virtual solutions and constant demands of consumers, Legal tech will become as simple as booking an online ticket.

While this will address the issue of pendency of cases and simplify legal help to reach masses in the socio-legal chapters across the globe, can the concept of Justice be codified and safely implemented?

The concept of Justice and its perception is about to change. With AI integration, pending legal cases can be solved faster than human aided courts of law, but the larger question remains if such a system can impede justice. It is interesting to examine the challenges we shall encounter when Legaltech is functional and common people resort to AI or legal bots for legal solutions.

For example:

· When either or both parties object to AI-generated justice the due course of action will have to be clearly redefined.

· Worldwide applicability of AI-generated legalities and common acceptance.

· All nations must come together to form a universally acceptable AI-generated system of Justice.

· AI-generated judgments shall become future legal precedents and case studies as the basis of law. The pros and cons need to be carefully evaluated to determine the court of Appeal and the hierarchy of the courts with AI courts of law.

When lawyers argue and a matter is decided, the parties have a right to approach a higher court of Appeal.

When LegalTech becomes a means of dispute resolution mechanism or e-court, then the question of the court’s hierarchy and Jurisdiction shall arise. This will give rise to the need for a new system of rules for virtual courts, their powers, and areas of operation.

Legal judgments become catalysts of legislative changes in the future. Human reasoning substituted by A2B Algorithms will generate justice and technology-based online e-courts shall be precedents that decide future legislations.

This will create a whole new chapter of the implementation of law and justice.

While this might seem to be an apt solution to our impending legal woes there are many points of concern that may increase the problem than solve it. Therefore all Legal tech has to be carefully planned and controlled to counter its ill effects when the situation arises.

For example, these challenges need to be examined:

· Will the end of dispute give rise to another dispute and an endless litigious loop is created if LegalTech is made so easily available to the common man

· Online Dispute Resolution platforms — Will the increased use of online dispute resolution result in a generalized justice divide?

· When algorithms decode justice and provide settlement of disputes is the Rule of Law honored?

· Who has the onus to decide what amounts to justice and who shall be held liable when the due course of law is not followed by Legal tech.

· If a humanoid bot passes judgment on human cases, will the trial be error-free or justice-free.

These are some pertinent situations that need to be analyzed and relevant solutions must be formulated to make AI and Legal integration a successful and useful tool. While human cognitive skills and emotional quotient cannot be replaced with AI, technology can be modified to utilize machine learning to combat the problems of the legal world. However, this usage should be exercised with great caution and responsibility, as it will change the course of legal representation in the times to come.

Will LegalTech balance the scales of Justice or impede due process of law only time can tell.

However, the future can be re-designed so that Law does not become an algorithm to meet a codified end of Justice.

Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming a sponsor.

Published via Towards AI