Chief Justice Roberts is skeptical of the use of artificial intelligence in federal courts

In an annual report released on Sunday, Chief Justice John Roberts focused on the potential and limitations of artificial intelligence in federal courts, omitting any discussion of Supreme Court ethics or Donald Trump-related legal disputes.

Roberts talked about the advantages and disadvantages of computer-generated content in the legal industry, referring to artificial intelligence as the “latest technological frontier”. His comments coincide with the most recent example of artificial intelligence (AI) produced spurious legal citations finding their way into official court records, in a case involving Michael Cohen, the former Trump attorney.

In his year-end report, Roberts declared that AI is "always a bad idea," adding that "any use of AI requires caution and humility."

However, the chief justice did acknowledge that AI can greatly facilitate the legal access of low-income individuals. “These tools have the welcome potential to smooth out any mismatch between available resources and urgent needs in our court system,” Roberts wrote.

Looking ahead warily to the growing use of artificial intelligence in the courts, Roberts wrote: “I predict that human judges will be around for a while. But with equal confidence I predict that judicial work — particularly at the trial level — will be significantly affected by AI.”