At a recent UK expert witness conference, Judge Sir Keith Lindblom was asked if AI would replace expert witnesses. He answered he saw a future where AI worked inherently with expert witnesses but it would not replace them.
Sir Keith Lindblom said the invention and evolution of artificial intelligence offers ‘immense opportunities’ and should not be shunned and feared. Importantly he suggested expert witnesses will become quality controllers and masters over AI.
‘That the role of expert witnesses will be reduced to merely interpreting the findings of our AI overlords is not a prospect I would accept,’ he said. ‘But it would be wrong to think that AI will have only a marginal impact on the role of expert witnesses.’
Although there have been reports of judges expressing concern about litigants using AI to generate fake case references, Lindblom foresaw that experts will 'undoubtedly' use artificial technology to prepare their evidence in the future. However, caution would be necessary when inputting confidential information, but using closed chatbots could provide enhanced security to mitigate any risks.
‘It does not mean expert witnesses are going to be redundant,’ he added. ‘Courts and tribunals will rely on experts with a solid understanding of the new technology if they are going to ensure justice is done.
‘It is the accountability and intelligent rigour of expert witnesses in the assistance they give that makes them indispensable to the administration of justice.’
Sir Keith’s Lindblom’s summary of a future harnessing AI mirrored that of master of the rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos, who told a conference earlier this year that the ‘simple fact is that we would not be properly serving either the interests of justice or access to justice if we did not embrace the use of new technologies for the benefit of those we serve’.
Vos urged ‘serious caution’ about using generative AI for court submissions, and legal advice but said that litigation clients would want to glean the data offered and know what AI thought as to their chances of success.
The Judge’s comments were with dismay by netizens whom noted that many legal establishments’ IT networks are far from flawless. In fact, they mentioned some could barely perform mundane email tasks let alone be technical hives of useful and game changing information.
Opinion: ‘Flawless’ is a key word when discussing relying Chat GTP. Those of us who have used Chat GTP 3.5 or 4 to write a promotional article, glean some facts and figures or write a poem will have seen the disclaimer: ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info. In fact, when I recently asked Chat GTP for answers on a quiz about wildlife 10 percent of the answers were wholly incorrect. The comments by Sir Keith Lindblom are his opinions on what will happen when Chat GTP improves somewhat in the future. And even when a time comes Chat GTP offers flawless information, that information, like now, may not be fully encompassing of all the observations and knowledge that a human expert in the field will be capable of sharing. So future quality control is a valid argument. Notwithstanding that AI could be used like a text book in a library. Whereas it will be a help, it would be better to have a collection of books to find a comprehensive source of knowledge. Will AI help you format and fill in paperwork ? Yes...so granted it's offerings will be more than a just text book. We are only scartching the surface of what it will become, given the chance.
Eddie Price - WitnessDirectory.com
https://barristerpages.co.uk/bar-standard-board-provides-new-guidance-on-social-media/
https://witnessdirectory.com/signup.php
