On 12 December 2023, judicial guidance was published in relation to Artificial Intelligence (AI).  The guidance may be accessed here: https://www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and-resources/artificial-intelligence-ai-judicial-guidance/.  

As well as setting out the usual health warnings relating to privacy and security, the guidance interestingly sets out where it can be a helpful tool.   That included reference to the use of generative AI as a potentially useful secondary tool in relation to research or preparatory works undertaken in order to produce judgments.  In context, the reference reads as follows: Judges are not generally obliged to describe the research or preparatory work which may have been done in order to produce a judgment. Provided these guidelines are appropriately followed, there is no reason why generative AI could not be a potentially useful secondary tool.

Whilst the guidance goes on to confirm that AI is not recommended for tasks such as legal research or analysis, it is very clear that the judicial guidance recognises there can be valuable uses of AI as above and for more administrative tasks.  

As AI develops, and the offering of specific programmes designed for use in the legal industry widens, it will be fascinating to see how the judiciary incorporate AI as a daily tool.  What is clear is that this is only the start of governing that relationship, which is likely to expand and become more regulated over the coming years as AI becomes more sophisticated.  

Whether it can ever assist as a primary tool for preparation of judgments is a difficult question, bringing into play ethical concerns as to the importance of human judgment in life and whether that deep understanding of nuanced circumstances could truly ever be replicated by machines.