Recently, Justice DY Chandrachud inaugurated a paperless bench in Orissa High Court.[i] The transition of paperwork to virtual space is the reality now. Slowly Indian judiciary is adopting the method which will be beneficial in the legal space. Adopting Artificial Intelligence in the Indian legal system will surely bring revolution in the Indian judicial system. In this article, we will discuss Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the legal system.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
The Oxford Dictionary defines Artificial Intelligence as “the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages”.[ii] Some applications can only do simplified tasks, such as adding numbers and therefore do not deserve to be referred to be intelligent. Other programs, on the other hand, are capable of doing challenging tasks.
Specific robust Artificial Intelligence programs can be used for facial recognition while searching for criminals in public. Artificially intelligent programs can be used to process and analyze large amounts of written work to spoken and spoken word to written form and make the transcription process more constructive and optimized.
Utility of AI in the legal industry
Due diligence review
Traditionally lawyers used to go through multiple documents to find mistakes, which took time & a cumbersome task as well. With the advancement of AI, difficult tasks can be handled diligently and more accurately, minimizing the lawyer’s precious time. Nowadays, law firms use AI to review documents, execute tasks related to Banking, Mergers & Acquisition transactions, contract reviewing, drafting, etc. It helps to save the lawyer time to review the contract, the risk associated with the contractual agreement and helps in automatically finding out essential aspects from a contract that can help carry out due diligence.[iii]
Legal Research
We generally use SSC Online, Manupatra, Lexis Nexis, etc., legal researching tools for legal research in law school. These tools are very effective for new generation lawyers. Legal research needs hours of time to find out the complex solution. This issue is addressed by using AI software, which may substantially increase efficiency and accuracy; it saves time by providing relevant case laws with a single click, which can help judges in delivering timely judgments. AI Ross, developed by IBM, has adopted many law firms worldwide, particularly in the USA, and is primarily used to vet legal contracts, conduct legal research, briefly summarize case laws, etc. Likewise, Linklaters LLP, a multinational law firm, is also developing an AI program, Nakhoda, intending to provide effective contract management and structured legal data.[iv] Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas is India’s first law firm to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse and improve contractual and other legal documents.[v]
Accurate Contractual analysis
Contract analysis is another time-consuming and complicated job performed by attorneys. Artificial intelligence-powered technologies, such as Natural Language Processing technology, may assist lawyers in expediting contract analysis, saving valuable time in the process. There are many technologies on the market now that do professional document analysis, extract essential information, and modify contracts to fulfil the needs of the client. From termination date to renewal date, what type of contract and notice can be sorted out quickly. In fact, Contract management and automated digital signature can be reviewed by AI.
AI in Competition law & Intellectual Property
The principal objects of Competition Law are to eliminate practices that may adversely affect the competition, promote competition in the market, protect the interest of the consumers, and ensure freedom of trade carried on by various participants in the market, with respect to the economic developments in the country. It is the imperative duty of the CCI to ensure that the conditions which have tendencies to kill the fair competition in the market are to be curbed. The CCI must ensure that the consumers reap the consequential benefits of healthy competition. Therefore, the CCI must address the competition concerns raised through technological developments, specifically AI’s ability to influence and predict demand and supply. AI has the ability to suggest conduct of pre-determined nature, which may invariably affect the competitive spirit of the market.[vi] Artificial intelligence is productive and contributes to giving information into IP, such as the search and registration of a trademark, patent, copyrights, etc.
Challenges of AI in the legal sector
Taking away of jobs
Lawyers and legal firms are concerned that Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning may threaten their survival, or, to put it another way, that Artificial Intelligence will replace lawyers. The jobs of office clerks, receptionists, customer service reps, analysts, marketers, doctors, attorneys, underwriters, and creative’s could be replaced by Al in the next decade. As Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, says, ―In the next decade, we will shift to a world that is AI-first.[vii]
Cyberattack
With each document submitted to the AI, there is a more significant threat of cyber attacks since such material may be vulnerable to hacking or theft. Unless cyber security is strengthened, using AI for data exchange or storage may pose a greater risk. The application of AI in cyber security poses greater concern. It is still unclear whether AI-enabled systems are subject to manipulation, such as data poisoning and adversarial examples, and how to best protect AI systems from malicious attacks.
Can it replace human brains?
Using AI in a criminal investigation such as detecting weapons, facial recognition, forensics, multimedia analysis, ballistics, and crime scene reconstruction enables us to transcend human mistakes and serve as experts. On the other hand, as criminal law is primarily concerned with human behavior, AI cannot be a straightjacket formula. Criminal law involves the commission of the act (actus reus), the mental state (mens rea); it needs a fair trial process to conclude, so it can never replace the human mind. Justice DY Chandrachud, in an interview, said, “The idea of Artificial Intelligence is not to supplant the human brain or the human mind or the presence of judges.”[viii]
Conclusion
Artificial Intelligence is our near future, and slowly it will be part of our legal sector. Technological advances will help the lawyer to work accurately & efficiently, and it will produce more quality of service to the client. AI in law has numerous benefits, from researching to Judges’ decision-making, predictive technology, data collection, and data review, etc. Though AI can bring revolutions in the legal industry in the future, it can never replace the creativity of the human mind as it lacks human intelligence and empathy. As AI is not wholly immune from vulnerabilities, cyber threats, data breaches, and data manipulation, AI’s complete inclusion in the legal industry is not desirable without a possible legal framework and privacy protection. We need to minimize the maximum risk to safeguard its benefit.
– Sahid Ahamad
(Content Writer, LawDIKTAT)
References
[i] ‘Justice Chandrachud Inaugurates Paperless Bench in Orissa High Court- The New Indian Express’ <https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2021/sep/12/justice-chandrachud-inaugurates-paperless-bench-in-orissa-high-court-2357590.html> accessed 3 October 2021.
[ii] ‘ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | Definition of ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.Com Also Meaning Of’ <https://www.lexico.com/definition/artificial_intelligence> accessed 3 October 2021.
[iii] ‘How Kira Works’ <https://kirasystems.com/how-kira-works/> accessed 28 October 2021.
[iv] Ananth Kini, ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession: An “intelligent” Way Ahead?’ <https://www.barandbench.com/columns/artificial-intelligence-and-legal-profession-an-intelligent-way-ahead> accessed 3 October 2021.
[v] Khushboo Narayan Shaji Vikraman, ‘“Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas to Be Asia’s First Law Firm to Employ AI for Legal Work” | Business News,The Indian Express’ <https://indianexpress.com/article/business/companies/cyril-amarchand-mangaldas-to-be-asias-first-law-firm-to-employ-ai-for-legal-work-4499676/> accessed 3 October 2021.
[vi] Sameer Gupta & Sankalp Udgata, ‘RETHINKING THE CONTOURS OF COMPETITION LAW: THE AI PERSPECTIVE’<http://iclr.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/RETHINKING-THE-CONTOURS-OF-COMPETITION-LAW-THE-AI-PERSPECTIVE.pdf>.
[vii] ‘Artificial Intelligence Will Take Your Job: What You Can Do Today To Protect It Tomorrow’ <https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/02/26/artificial-intelligence-will-take-your-job-what-you-can-do-today-to-protect-it-tomorrow/?sh=280bd3e44f27> accessed 3 October 2021.
[viii] Interview with Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachud, ‘Reassessing Legal Processes through Artificial Intelligence’ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo3dzHjMVZA> accessed 3 October 2021.