Graphics: Michelle Berdonar
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is currently reshaping the work flow of various fields. In arts, literature, customer services, journalism, sales and marketing, healthcare management, social media monitoring, travel and hospitality, agriculture and many others, it has paved the way for efficiency by optimizing most clerical processes. Some fields thought to be safe from the use of automation are now on the precarious edge of being handed off to these calibrated tools. With how it is steadily proliferating in recent years, one can’t help but wonder whether the legal profession can be replaced with AI.
Is it really possible for the judiciary to be dominated by Artificial Intelligence? Can the ever-dynamic pace of globalization and technological advancement overstep the judiciary’s indispensable role in dissemination of justice? If yes, then what areas are doomed to be affected? These are some of the proliferating questions that one may come up with.
During the commencement exercises of the Arellano University School of Law at the Philippine Convention Center in Pasay City on July 20, 2023, Supreme Court Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez stated:
“It is our humanity that renders us indispensable in the practice of law. We are humans guided by conscience and societal responsibility in the dispensation of ultimate justice,”
He further added that AI is a mere tool that can be utilized by humans but would not replace them, especially in the legal profession.
On the same note, Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo shared during the alumni homecoming of the Siliman University Law Alumni Association (SULAW) on August 26, 2023 at the Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium, Siliman University, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental the following statement:
“AI could be the magnet that makes legal search faster and easier, to the benefit of the people that we ultimately serve.”
AI Technology improves access to legal research and references. It maximizes the process to produce more accurate and reliable results. It is because of these that the Chief Justice introduced the use of E-Library to over 600 members of the Dumaguete legal community. The proposed AI-enabled research tool is one of the projects under the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI), a huge step for judicial reform.
It can’t be denied that there are many potential benefits of AI for the legal profession. In fact, some law firms have already been using AI to review contracts through readily available sites and generate legal documents that only needed to replace specific details of different clients. It can allow the researcher to easily pinpoint the materials needed for the practice. Through this, the time-consuming ministerial tasks will lessen which in turn may allow more time to focus on the needs of the client. However, despite these potentials, it is needless to say that without human judgment and detestation for injustice, these technological tools would still be futile and nugatory.
The human touch is indispensable in legal practice. It is human to have the ability to comprehend the abstract. To understand justice, compassion, equity and conscience. It is human to hear the voices of the unheard and to remain brave in the fight against injustice. The judiciary is more than just stating problems and applying the law. It requires human reasoning, moral values, critical thinking and adherence to the rule of law. These things, no matter how advanced our technology may become, purely belong to humanity. AI can only assist lawyers and not replace them. It is incomprehensible to leave an individual’s right in the hands of an unfeeling tool.
