Extract from Hon. Maritza Dominguez Braswell’s article, “Invisible Judgments: How AI can help judges see what we’ve never seen before.”
Most conversations about judicial AI focus on two questions: First, can we trust it? And second, how much time will it save? Both questions are important, but the underlying assumption is that AI will simply drop into our existing workflows and we’ll continue to do the same work, just faster. I see it differently.
Key takeaways
- AI’s real opportunity is in augmentation, not speed.
- True augmentation will come from rethinking our workflows, and reimagining how we perform certain tasks.
- The work of judges involves far more than simply issuing rulings. Every ruling is built from invisible “micro-judgments” that dictate framing, anchoring, and assumptions.
- Designed and used poorly, AI can bury these framings and assumptions deeper than ever before. But designed and used well, AI can give judges something no tool has ever offered: the ability to see our own minds at work in real time.
- This could change how we “judge,” for the better.
