AI could augment judges
In February, National Chung Cheng University’s Crime Research Center published survey results in which only 21.9 percent of respondents said they believed that judges were capable of hearing cases fairly and making fair verdicts, while 80.9 percent said they were dissatisfied with the government’s performance on judicial reform.
These figures show that there is an urgent need to work out how to win back the public’s trust in the judiciary.
According to a report published in the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) on April 10, the Estonian Ministry of Justice is building an “artificial intelligence [AI] judge” to judge disputes involving claims of less than 7,000 euros (US$7,849).
Taiwan has so far not succeeded in getting rid of its out-of-touch “dinosaur” judges, so Estonia’s idea of developing “AI judges” could be worthy of consideration.
Many judges’ verdicts in Taiwan run contrary to ordinary people’s expectations. Defendants who should receive heavy penalties are given light ones and those who should be imprisoned are released.
By clinging strictly to the letter of the law, these “dinosaur” judges lose touch with society, and people are not convinced by the rationales they attach to their judgements.
This is what has caused the public to have such a lack of trust in the judicial system. Consequently, it may not be very long before we may see AI judges taking the place of human ones.
In 2016, the Guardian newspaper reported that computer scientists at University College London had created an AI program that could predict the verdicts and outcomes of cases.
Such a program could be used to find case judgement patterns for judges to use as reference, thus making trials faster and more efficient.
When used to analyze cases previously tried by the European Court of Human Rights, 79 percent of the program’s judgements were the same as those made by human judges.
Will AI judges really take over from human ones? As technology continues to advance, not only traditional manufacturing jobs are in danger. Even learned judges could face the threat of unemployment.
This is not mere scaremongering. If Taiwan fails to thoroughly reform its judicial system, the day might really come when judges find themselves out of a job.
Inevitably, judges’ verdicts are sometimes affected by their emotions and ideologies. This can give rise to situations in which court cases involve similar facts, but have completely different outcomes.
There is therefore a real need to establish an objective AI legal judgement system to assist in trials by providing unified standards of reasoning and evaluation.
It could prevent discrepant verdicts, which would restore the judiciary’s reputation and strengthen the public’s trust.
Opinions might differ as to whether AI judges can and should be used to judge court cases. Taiwan is going through a period of judicial reform.
If the judicial authorities can take charge of establishing an AI trial adjudication system to assist judges in their work, it could contribute to strengthening the public’s trust.
Rather than replacing judges with AI robots, the purpose of creating such a system would be to lay a path toward more humane judgements.
Hsu Li-te
Taipei
Denmark has consistently defended Greenland in light of US President Donald Trump’s interests and has provided unwavering support to Ukraine during its war with Russia. Denmark can be proud of its clear support for peoples’ democratic right to determine their own future. However, this democratic ideal completely falls apart when it comes to Taiwan — and it raises important questions about Denmark’s commitment to supporting democracies. Taiwan lives under daily military threats from China, which seeks to take over Taiwan, by force if necessary — an annexation that only a very small minority in Taiwan supports. Denmark has given China a
Speaking at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on May 13, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that democracies must remain united and that “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism.” Earlier that day, Tsai had met with a group of Danish parliamentarians led by Danish Parliament Speaker Pia Kjaersgaard, who has visited Taiwan many times, most recently in November last year, when she met with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office. Kjaersgaard had told Lai: “I can assure you that ... you can count on us. You can count on our support
Many local news media over the past week have reported on Internet personality Holger Chen’s (陳之漢) first visit to China between Tuesday last week and yesterday, as remarks he made during a live stream have sparked wide discussions and strong criticism across the Taiwan Strait. Chen, better known as Kuan Chang (館長), is a former gang member turned fitness celebrity and businessman. He is known for his live streams, which are full of foul-mouthed and hypermasculine commentary. He had previously spoken out against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and criticized Taiwanese who “enjoy the freedom in Taiwan, but want China’s money”
Last month, two major diplomatic events unfolded in Southeast Asia that suggested subtle shifts in the region’s strategic landscape. The 46th ASEAN Summit and the inaugural ASEAN-Gulf-Cooperation Council (GCC)-China Trilateral Summit in Kuala Lumpur coincided with French President Emmanuel Macron’s high-profile visits to Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore. Together, they highlighted ASEAN’s maturing global posture, deepening regional integration and China’s intensifying efforts to recalibrate its economic diplomacy amid uncertainties posed by the US. The ASEAN summit took place amid rising protectionist policies from the US, notably sweeping tariffs on goods from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, with duties as high as 49 percent.
RSS