China wants its judicial system to be supported by artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure by 2025. The directive aims to accelerate the integration of AI into judicial work and improve legal services.
According to a report citing guidelines issued by the Supreme People’s Court, the nation’s highest court declared that all courts must implement a “competent” AI system in three years.
The document claimed that all processes required for handling legal cases would be supported by a “better regulated” and more efficient infrastructure for AI use. According to the high court, this should include comprehensive AI integration, the development of smart courts, and a higher standard of “digital justice.”
However, a more sophisticated application of AI should not jeopardize national security, compromise state secrets, or violate the security of personal data, the document noted, highlighting the significance of upholding the legitimacy and security of AI in legal contexts.
It also stated that decisions would still be made by human judges, with AI used as supplemental resources and tools to increase judges’ productivity and lessen their workload in routine cases. According to the Supreme People’s Court, an AI-driven system would also increase public access to legal services and aid in more efficient dispute resolution.
It further required that courts all over the nation concentrate their efforts on learning to use AI so they could spot irregularities in case handling.
The report claims that the high court has been promoting the industry’s adoption of technology for the past ten years. In order to advance the fusion of law and technology and better support socioeconomic development, it announced plans to establish a judicial blockchain-based alliance between Chinese courts and other sectors by 2025.
By September, 350,000 mediators and more than 90,000 mediation centers had joined a platform created by the Supreme People’s Court to assist lawyers in online dispute resolution. Additionally, the courts submitted more than 11.43 million cases online last year.
The Chinese government has previously stated its intention to make AI the primary driver of the country’s economic growth, with the goal of becoming a global leader in AI by 2030.
It announced in September of this year that it would expand to 50 more high-tech zones by 2030, praising these commercial growth hubs for boosting China’s GDP and enabling “breakthroughs” in artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and 5G communications. Scientists and businesses working in the high-tech zones developed the country’s first AI chip and quantum communication satellite.
