The Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Legal Decision-Making: Ethical concerns

This article is authored by Harisyaambhavi N.S., a student at Christ Academy Institute of Law, as part of her assignment for LeDroit’s Legal Research and Writing Live Certificate Course.

AI is the foundation of innovation in modern computing, bringing benefits to both people and companies. Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that is used to build machines that are efficient in performing task that generally requires human intelligence. The very first AI existed around 1950 ever since it has made human life as effortless as possible it plays a significant role in performing the task that requires human intelligence through the help of data and information that are updated to the machine on recurrence basis to help the AI to be up to date and to bring the accurate outcomes that is expected. AI is Revolutionary and it is known for bringing the foremost and prompt outcome of the work done which is quite challenging with only the help of human intelligence because humans are prone to mistakes which is a humanly nature, whereas AI ascertain that there are fewer possibilities for such weak lapse. In much simpler terms, AI is a technology that enables computer devices and machines to act correspond to human intelligence and assist in actions such as learning, reasoning, perception, language, comprehension, problem-solving etc.. with greater skillfulness and accuracy.

THE CONTEXT OF AI IN THE LEGAL SECTOR

AI (Artificial Intelligence) had significant evolution since past few decades and is playing a essential role in the legal industry helping the professionals to increase their productivity along with being frugal on resources such as time and finance. It is assumed by experts that artificial intelligence will eventually play a promising role in the Indian legal system. legal professionals are currently devising the foremost out of artificial intelligence on developing their research and analytical efficiency where the computer can work, think and perform activities that are capable by human intelligence while efficiency in the work through artificial intelligence is quite accomplishing. AI is of two types which is plays a pivotal role in the field of law  that is “Practical work on intelligent legal information systems” and “Theoretical work on computational models of legal reasoning”.

The practical work intelligence legal information system helps in encompassing application of AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology in acceleration of the efficiency, accuracy and accessibility of legal information and analysis which also further aids in cases such as reviewing of contracts along with infusion in the key laws, statutes along with characteristic prospective risk and comparing the contract against the regulatory requirements. This AI can organize relevant laws and regulations according to the change in regulation and keep legal research work up-to-date and also this helps the legal professionals or new users to be well level-headed about potential issues and complications, further guidance and support for the individuals by answering the frequent asked legal questions to provide relevant assistance in the subject matter. Unlike, Practical work on intelligent legal information systems, Theoretical work on computational models of legal reasoning is The cyclic work competition model of legal reason mainly focuses on the influence of the development of legal expert systems which applies to logical rules and a set of facts that are derived from conclusions similar to how statutes are applied to a specific case previously.

The system identifies similar cases and precedents. Serving the professionals an analysis of the past decision. Also, focusing on argumentation theory helps in constructing and organizing the arguments in the provided framework, understanding the importance of legal considerations, and helping the professionals to strengthen the arguments and reach the viable conclusion. However, AI is not considered to be authorized intelligence to be a part of the legal system around the countries yet One such legal issue arose when the law firm Miller King was sued for using artificial intelligence to help clients in areas including personal injury, wrongful death, and family law, which provided legal service without a proper license to practice. This remains a critical problem where AI gives us a solution that can be provided only by a licensed and authorized legal practitioner, unlike  artificial intelligence is not authorized or licensed to practice law. The judge concluded Miller King did not adequately allege it has “suffered a diversion of clients or reputation harm” due to DoNotPay’s actions and lacks standing to sue Whereas, In the case of Mata V. Avianca Inc, where the legal professionals in the US representing the plaintiff has cited few cases that was generated by chatGPT, which ultimately ended up being a fake citation .

The Court held Mr. Schwartz violated Rule 11 by failing to acknowledge in the first affidavit that he was “aware of facts that alerted him to the high probability” that at least two of the fake cases “did not exist” and by making other false statements about his use of ChatGPT in preparing the Affirmation in Opposition. following up with a $5000 fine for the lawyers. This proves that AI can complement the work of a lawyer rather than being an alternative to performing the task that he is licensed to do. However, in India, The Indian judiciary system is known for using AI-controlled tool design to process information (Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software) and making it available for the judges to access the aid of Artificial Intelligence, where it does not involve the AI in the process of decision-making but allows it to translate legal papers from vernacular language to English or vice versa with the help of this peculiar AI, the work is uncomplicated and doesn’t consume a lot of time, and allows the judges to understand the legal documents with much affluence. This makes it apparent that AI is not all thorns; however, the ample amount of knowledge gained using AI in the precise way would appreciate the work that requires much more complexion and time consumption with human intelligence. 

Also In the case of Jaswinder Singh v. State of Punjab,The Punjab and the Haryana court has rejected the bail petition due to the allegation that was put forth on the petitioner being involved in serious assault. The judge requested insight of chatGPT to get a wider perspective on the matter of granting bail where cruelty is involved. However, it is important to understand that the reference from the chat GPT does not express opinion on the merits of the case and the trial court will not take such opinions into consideration. The reference was made so that they could have a broader understanding on jurisprudence when cruelty is a factor.

ETHICAL ASPECT OF AI IN THE LEGAL SECTOR

Ethical consideration is one of the most essential considerations that should be included when a judgment is provided in a court of law. Certain principles and guidelines help professionals to have a righteous, confidential, and moral and code of conduct where ethical consideration and responsibility are quite high in the field of law. As every client expects the confidentiality of matters relating to them it’s very important for one to understand that their ethics must never go down due to any personal approval. The ethical advantage of AI in the legal field is that it helps the judicial outcome to be a non-biased conclusions thus, ensuring fairness in the judgement as it is anticipated that AI will sooner or later be formulated in such a way that it could provide decorous legal decisions. One needs to understand that not delivering a non-biased  result Will be a major help for society to achieve uniformity in the legal decision-making for the affluent as well as the unfortunate and every other citizen can be treated equally without any other personal or social control over the judicial decision along with unbiased and fairness in decision making, AI can also contribute to furnishing accuracy in the matter of law. The lawyer or the paralegal needs to be accurate in their research which would eventually turn the judgement in favour of their client therefore when we put AI in legal decisions it would constitute accuracy through thorough analysis of precedent and already available data without any misjudgment.

For the fact, AI has several ethical advantages. Some serious arguments indicated AI in law is not all blooming flowers but a thorn in the stem. The most important concern that arises in the field of law is who can be held liable for the work of AI. As AI forms the judicial decisions and legal research based on the previously analyzed data from its database without any human intervention it becomes more difficult to decide who will be responsible and accountable for the outcomes of the AI in the process of decision-making. The decision making process is also majorly affected by the lack of transparency in the matter of judgement making and without adequate transparency AI will not be recognized as a prompt source of decision making as transparency is widely proposed in several countries like India. Besides This AI is unbiased and does not involve any emotion or concern to the human being in the process of decision, it is very important to understand who deserves what and who can endure such decisions as a decision on a rich will have a minor effect on him, whereas the same decision on the poor would have a major impact On his livelihood Therefore, it is to be clear that AI has both positive and negative impact on ethical consideration in the field of law, however major issues such as transparency, accountability and emotional consideration, financial capability are very important for one to make a legal decision especially When an AI is making a legal decision without human intervention which would alter the course of life of a human being, we need to understand the fact AI can help the human being to achieve the purpose but It cannot give an absolute solution for the problems or be an replacement.

CONCLUSION

Artificial intelligence is one of the fastest-growing technologies in the 21st century. There are always two sides to a coin, it’s up to the potential user to break through the aspects and to seek the best possible utilization of the positive aspects rectify the negatives and try and implement them to be useful enough. It should be understood that the intersection between AI and ethics is drastic and in the field of law  and therefore collaborate with several other technology and human mind in which AI would not affect the ethical aspect of the profession and ensure fostering transparency, and privacy, accountability where AI maximize the benefits for legal professionals and minimizing the harms that can be caused with human clerical mistake, it is to be the goal to achieve it to through continuous process for adoption of a technology which could align with the advancement of legal upgradation and ethical needs of the profession and the society.

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