The Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court has predicted that AI will have a ‘forceful’ impact on legal work

Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court John Roberts released his final report of the year to the Supreme Court on December 31, saying that artificial intelligence (AI) will have a “significant” impact on legal work.

Roberts included AI as a key focus of his personal statement in his annual summary, in which he predicted that AI would be “around for a while,” but:

“… With equal confidence, I predict that judicial work, especially at the trial level, will be greatly affected by AI.”

He writes that AI-driven change will not only increase how judges do their jobs, but also their understanding of AI's role in their cases. Roberts said that as the technology evolves, courts will have to “consider its fair use” in litigation.

According to Roberts, AI can “unequivocally help” advance the goals of implementing Rule 12 in the current justice system. 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for “fair, speedy and inexpensive” resolution of cases.

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“But any use of AI requires caution and humility,” he continued. In particular, he cited the issue of AI “hallucinations,” in which the technology's answers contain false or misleading information presented as truth.

On December 31, Michael Cohen, a former entrepreneur lawyer and former US President Donald Trump, accused AI of false quotes in legal documents.

Roberts emphasized that “machines cannot completely replace key actors in the courtroom” and pointed out that judges can measure “the sincerity of the defendant's share” in the sentence.

He called it a “sub-issue.” “A lot of hand shaking, a trembling voice, a change in breathing, a bead of sweat, a moment's hesitation, eye contact can illuminate a momentary breakdown.

“And most people still believe that humans are more capable of understanding and drawing from these cues than machines.”

This comes less than a month after the Chief Justice of the United States issued an AI directive to the United Kingdom's top judicial group for the Judiciary in England and Wales to follow.

UK advice has provided guidance on how judges can use AI to warn of potential danger during trials.

To read more about what's coming with the use of AI in the legal sphere, check out our “2024 AI Legal Challenges” forecast summary.

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