Extract from Dr Lance Eliot’s article “Is Artificial Intelligence Undermining The Legal System?”
Let’s consider an interesting potential legal case that might be arising sooner than you think.
A prosecutor announces the filing of charges against a well-known figure. This riles up ardent fans of the popular person. Some of those fans are adamant that their perceived hero can do no wrong and that any effort to prosecute is abundantly unfair, misguided, and altogether a travesty of justice.
Protests ensue. Rowdy crowds show up at the courthouse where the prosecutor is typically found. In addition, protesters even opt to stand outside the home of the prosecutor and make quite a nuisance, attracting outsized TV and social media attention. Throughout this protest storm, the prosecutor stands firm and states without reservation that the charges are entirely apt.
All of a sudden, a news team gets wind of rumours that the prosecutor is unduly biased in this case. Anonymously provided materials seem to surely showcase that the prosecutor wanted to go after the defendant for reasons other than the purity of the law. Included in the trove of such indications are text messages by the prosecutor, emails by the prosecutor, and video snippets in which the prosecutor clearly makes inappropriate and unsavoury remarks about the accused.
Intense pressure mounts to get the prosecutor taken off the case. Likewise, similar pressure arises to get the charges dropped.
