AI can augment reasoning but cannot substitute judicial conscience: CJI

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Wednesday said the judiciary's governing principle is that artificial intelligence may augment judicial reasoning, but it cannot substitute judicial conscience, and that a permanent apex body has been proposed to supervise the adoption and accountability of the new technology.

Speaking at a bilateral meeting with Ulrich Herrmann, the presiding judge of the Federal Court of Justice at Karlsruhe in Germany, CJI Kant said that artificial intelligence (AI) is being used in certain defined support functions such as legal research, judgement translation into 16 languages and as a conversational interface for citizens to look for case status and procedures.

He said that while these tools are designed to reduce repetitive work, they do not determine judicial outcomes.

"Artificial intelligence may augment judicial reasoning, but it cannot substitute judicial conscience.

Draft regulations from the Supreme Court's AI Committee permit administrative uses suc