Islamabad:
Judge Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, judge Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, expressed serious reserves on the use of artificial intelligence (IA) in legal proceedings, warning that “robot judges will always remain subordinate to their programmers”.
In a letter addressed to the chief judge Sarfraz Dogar – a copy of which was also disseminated among all the judges of the IHC – Judge Ejaz raised fundamental concerns concerning the implications of the AI assisted by AI, arguing that such systems do not have the capacity of moral reasoning and independence.
“Opponents of artificial intelligence technology believe that this is a programmable system,” he wrote. “Consequently, the judges of the robots will always remain subject to their programmers. Their decisions will comply with the codes that fed them.”
Judge Ejaz observed that computers or robots “do not have the capacity to train independent opinions or to make aligned judgments on the truth”.
He added that although he did not share these reservations before, the complete meeting of the September 3 court on the issue had changed his point of view.
“In the past, I do not agree with this point of view,” he noted, “but after the full meeting of the court on September 3, my position got closer to that of criticism.”
The judge also approved the opinions of judge Mohin Akhtar Kayani and Judge Saman Rafat Imtiaz, who had previously expressed similar apprehensions concerning the judicial power of AI tools.
The complete meeting of the court, chaired by chief judge Sarfraz Dogar, had mainly discussed the rules of practice and procedure as well as the rules of establishment, which were approved by a majority vote. Judge Ejaz was one of the five judges who opposed the rules.
