Justice at Stake for AI

Powerful: Generative Artificial Intelligence Enters the Courts

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New York - Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is making its way into courts despite early stumbles, raising questions about how it will influence the legal system and justice itself.

Judges use the technology for research, lawyers utilize it for appeals and parties involved in cases have relied on GenAI to help express themselves in court.

"It's probably used more than people expect," said Daniel Linna, a professor at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, about GenAI in the US legal system.

"Judges don't necessarily raise their hand and talk about this to a whole room of judges, but I have people who come to me afterward and say they are experimenting with it."

In one prominent instance, GenAI enabled murder victim Chris Pelkey to address an Arizona courtroom – in the form of a video avatar – at the sentencing of the man convicted of shooting him dead in 2021 during a clash between motorists.