The rapidly accelerating integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into our lives will soon affect court rooms and other legal environments in Australia, and critical threshold issues for a smooth integration of AI into court environments remain unexamined.
We do not yet know whether Australian judges understand and/or trust AI, whether they appreciate its potentials and risks, whether they are aware of the differences between automated and augmented decision-making, or what accountability or oversight mechanisms might be required.
A recently published paper by Ilana Bolingford and colleagues considers the likely barriers and risks to a successful integration of AI into the work of judges in Australia, based on research and experience in other jurisdictions (primarily the United States, where algorithms already play a significant role in facilitating judicial decision-making).
The paper, Is Australia Ready for AI on the Bench?, is available now on ePrints.
About Ilana Bolingford
Ilana is an interdisciplinary PhD student investigating the experiences of law academics in relation to research engagement and impact policy. She is interested in how extrinsic elements such as policy and technology inform the experiences of legal actors such as law academics, judges, and the legal profession.
