PUTRAJAYA, Dec 5 — While artificial intelligence (AI) can help the courts in analysing the trends in sentencing of those convicted of crimes, AI has its limits and it is ultimately judges themselves who would make the final and ultimate decision, the Chief Justice of Malaysia said today.

Chief Justice Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh noted that magistrates and Sessions Court judges in Sabah and Sarawak have already been using AI to provide guidelines on sentences for criminal offences, but said they are “not bound by the suggestions made by the AI”.

He said the judiciary is also exploring the use of AI for sentencing guidelines in courts in Peninsular Malaysia.

“But I always say that the human aspect of AI is lacking. So the judges, magistrates and Sessions Court judges have to use their own skill to decide one way or the other,” he told the media in a group interview at the Palace of Justice here in conjunction with his 100 days in office as the judiciary’s top judge.

Wan Ahmad Farid said judges may consider imposing harsher sentences in different cases, due to other factors that AI may not be able to take into account.

He gave two hypothetical scenarios of a person who has been stealing repeatedly, and of a person who committed to feed their hungry baby.

“As I made a comparison just now, somebody who is a serial thief who steals everywhere, and when he is charged for the 11th time, so the chances are there must be factors that tend to increase the sentence — the aggravating factors,” he said, noting that this would be what “only human judges” are able to decide.

“Although AI helps, but it’s not the ultimate arbiter, we have to finally decide one way or the other,” he said.

He said the judiciary is currently exploring other possibilities for how AI can be used to enhance the quality of court judgments “and also to make sure that we deliver the judgment speedily”.

“And it helps, I think AI can help,” he said.

For example, he said AI could help in showing the trend of the courts’ sentencing of those who commit certain offences, and it could help judges when they are deciding on the sentence to impose on those who have been convicted.

Previously on October 3, Wan Ahmad Farid had during a law conference said that AI will make wisdom by human judges more essential, as AI is unable to do things such as determine the credibility of witnesses or to assess human factors.