TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) – Today it’s almost unavoidable to be impacted by the use of artificial intelligence, the justice system is no exception.
Right now Pima County Superior Court is already using AI and is expecting to see its impacts during litigation.
News 4 Tucson’s Chief Investigative Reporter Chorus Nylander spoke with Pima County Superior Court’s Presiding Judge Danelle Liwski, who has dealt with many technological advancements in her 30 year career.
“There’s been huge changes and you have to do the best to roll with that,” she said.
Liwski said AI is already being used, mostly for research purposes.
“It can scan things far faster.”
She said it’s important though for staff to double check any work augmented by AI to assure accuracy but it can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for legal research. She believes that will eventually lower legal fees due to the saved time.
“I think it will cut down on legal fees because having a lawyer go through what a computer can go through will take a lot more time,” she explained.
Like just about anything though, there are cons. The obvious issues in the court system could be the use of evidence that is manipulated or altered by AI.
Judge Liwski said she hasn’t seen or heard of that being a problem yet within her courthouse but expects it will eventually happen. She has faith in the justice system itself to weed out those issues during litigation.
“Lawyers have the ability to confront and cross examine witnesses, juries have the opportunity to review people’s credibility,” she said.
Liwski believes the layers of checks and balances will uphold truth.
She said the Arizona Supreme Court is reviewing some rules of procedure and may make adjustments for AI within the courtroom.
The Supreme Court itself just launched the use of AI “reporters”, they are AI generated avatars it’s using to provide public information on cases. The first of its kind in the nation.
News 4 Tucson spoke with experienced defense attorney Louis Fidel from firm Piccarreta Davis Keenan Fidel.
“AI is a powerful tool, it’s going to continue to get more powerful. Sadly there will be mistakes as there [already] are,” he said.
Fidel agrees with Liwski that AI can be a time saving resource for lengthy research for lawyers and judges.
He believes the threat of AI altered evidence could change, slightly, how juries hear evidence during trial and that more expert witnesses may be called to dispute allegedly fake materials.
“If you have a video of somebody doing something and you believe that it’s false you have to be able to explain why that is,” he explained.
“I think it’s like any other new tool we have. We have to make sure it’s used correctly,” Liwski said.
We will update you as we learn more about any rule changes within local courts due to AI.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
