Artificial Intelligence Updates: Can Robots Be Better Judges?

By Jeff Thompson - 25 Oct '16 08:05AM

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has got greater attention nowadays and now one more reason to discuss it seriously. An AI program developed by a team of scientists could predict the final judgments of the cases registered before European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with 79 percent accuracy. Is this indicating future of "Artificial Intelligence Judges" or simply "AI Judges"?

A study conducted by researchers from universities of Sheffield and Pennsylvania and University College of London have referred 584 cases and derived the result. The AI judge was able to predict the cases related to torture, rights to fair trial and respect for private life, reported by BBC. The AI system looked for patterns and references to previous judgments and could classify it either under "violation" or "non-violation".

But, the creators of the system do not believe that AI judges can replace human judgments in near future. "We don't find that we are able to or near to create AI judges or lawyers," said Nikolaos Aletras, the scientist who lead the research. "Courts are using many analytical tools already and in future, the possibility of AI judges can't be rejected," reports The Verge.

However, it should be presumed that the dependence of AI system will go up with the advancement of technology. Also, a review of judgments or a parallel judgment system by AI judges can be expected to cross check the details and to ensure accuracy. It is also expected to improve the efficiency of the courts if such a virtual AI judge is deployed in parallel. It should be noted that algorithms of AI are able to write stories, detect cancers and drive cars, cited by Business Insider.

Systems that can give accuracy and better results should be used in a timely manner if it can offer progress to people. However, proper checks and balances should be done, to avoid any overriding. Be it AI judges or AI doctors, the net result should never be allowed to harm the humans. As Barack Obama said about AI, it seeps into lives which people fail to notice and if it is properly utilized, it can give greater opportunities and prosperity.