Interpreters to be replaced by computers – top judge

Simultaneous translation by computers would put courtroom interpreters out of a job ‘within a few years’ the Lord Chief Justice Ian Burnett said last week in an upbeat assessment on the potential of technology. According to a Law Gazette report, delivering the Sir Henry Brooke Annual Lecture on ‘the age of reform,’ Burnett described artificial intelligence as the 'transformative technology of our age’ which would drive change in the justice system long after the current controversial reform programme ends in five years. 'Modernisation will not stop in 2023,’ Burnett said, describing it as 'a continuing process’ which would inevitably involve artificial intelligence predicting the outcome of disputes – 'one of the most exciting developments of the age'. In his lecture, Burnett took aim at critics of the reform programme, whom he accused of 'misunderstanding what is envisaged'. Concerns about 'digital exclusion' and threats to the dignity of the justice system were overblown, he said. 'There are no plans to do away with the use of paper in the courts and tribunals for those who genuinely cannot make use of technology or get help to do so.' He blamed much of the controversy on previous administrations' failure to grasp technology. He predicted that the result 'will be a more efficient and user-friendly justice system in all its areas of activity coupled with a significant widening of access to justice, the report states.

Full Law Gazette report