SINGAPORE, Nov 7 — Artificial intelligence (AI) could one day reshape Singapore’s courts to the point where judges may not even need formal legal training, according to Aidan Xu, who leads transformation and innovation in the judiciary.
In an interview with CNA, Xu said advances in AI may eventually allow people from other professional backgrounds — such as counsellors or engineers — to serve as judges, with technology supplying the legal expertise.
“There is a strong likelihood that you won’t need a lawyer to be a judge,” he told the Singapore-based news outlet today, stressing that a fully AI judge or lawyer remains unlikely in the near future.
“The human element will be an important part of the role of a judge, in deciding cases, in deciding who to believe, in deciding what outcome should follow,” he was quoted as saying.
Singapore’s courts have in recent years rolled out several AI tools, including a summary generator developed with US start-up Harvey AI for Small Claims Tribunals and algorithms that predict outcomes in motor accident cases.
Another initiative is a translation tool used to assist self-represented litigants.
Xu said the judiciary is also testing AI-enabled transcription systems and hopes to make them affordable for court users.
But he also cautioned against overreliance on technology.
“And importantly, that they see AI is only a tool, and they cannot use it as a shortcut.
“So we want them to understand that they must continue to fulfil their functions as judges, judicial officers or administrators in the right way, and they don’t click on an AI button and generate (an) answer and just pass that off as their work,” he was quoted as saying.
He added that Singapore’s judiciary continues to train officers to understand AI’s limits and ensure the technology remains a tool and not a shortcut.
