CJI highlights perils of AI, agrees to hear plea to frame guidelines on its use in judiciary
New Delhi: Highlighting the perils of artificial intelligence, Chief Justice of India B R Gavai on Monday said he was aware of a morphed video circulating on social media that falsely showed a shoe-throwing incident in his courtroom. The remarks were made as a bench comprising the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and Justice K Vinod Chandran agreed to list for hearing after two weeks a plea that sought framing of guidelines to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools within the judiciary. During the proceedings, a counsel for the petitioner cautioned against the unchecked adoption of AI tools in court processes, saying, "Even this court is using AI, but the ills are such..." "We are aware of it; we have seen the morphed video of us (two)," the CJI said while referring to the fabricated clip circulating online.
The plea, filed through advocate Abhinav Shrivastava, seeks a policy to govern the use of AI in judicial functions, warning that generative AI systems can embed "systemic biases" and operate as "black boxes" whose internal logic remains opaque even to their creators. According to the petitioner, the use of generative AI is problematic as it entails a complex process of datafication, which may generate words and images not meant by the user. The plea stated that AI integrated into the judiciary and judicial functions should have data that is free from bias, and data ownership should be transparent enough to ensure stakeholders' liability. It argued that one of the biggest red flags of such integration is data opaqueness and warned that the use of generative AI within judicial work may lead to higher risks of cyberattacks. On October 6, 71-year-old Rakesh Kishore, a lawyer, attempted to hurl a shoe towards the CJI in his courtroom, which prompted the Bar Council of India to suspend his license with immediate effect. The incident sparked widespread condemnation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while condemning the incident, also spoke to the CJI.
