Judging AI: AI takes the stand

If the headlines are to be believed, AI is poised to reshape every walk of life, and litigation is no exception. As lawyers, investigators and data specialists, we are already seeing its influence ripple through every stage of a case: how claims are originated, the new forms of evidence we are asked to disclose and scrutinise, and the way expert opinion is formed and tested. For these reasons, professional regulatory duties for solicitors, barristers and judges are now undergoing revision to address new issues raised by increasing AI use. These changes offer the potential of both increased efficiency and increased access to the justice system, but also come with risk and limitations, ranging from hallucinated citations to deep-faked exhibits. As with previous technological changes, the courts must find a way to harness one without falling foul of the other.

Our panel of lawyers, investigators and expert witnesses will explore how AI is changing the practice of litigation, organised around three themes:

• Tradition: How have the UK courts absorbed disruptive technologies before, from email and smartphones to TAR and algorithmic decision-making, and what does that history tell us about how AI will be received?
• Transformation: Where is AI already changing litigation in practice, from AI-generated correspondence to new artefacts of evidence, to the way experts marshal and test large volumes of data?
• Trust: How does the justice system establish provenance and reliability in an age of deepfakes, hallucinated citations and non-deterministic outputs, and what guardrails will let the courts adopt AI use without compromising their reputation?