As South Africa grapples with the integration of artificial intelligence into its judicial systems, a pivotal conference at UJ reveals that technology's evolution must always be anchored in human values and judicial integrity.
While artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionise South African courts, justice itself must continue to be administered by humans.
That was the main takeaway from the first AI and the Law Conference at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), where government officials, legal professionals, and senior judges discussed how AI is changing the legal field and the administration of justice.
The three-day conference, hosted by UJ’s AI and the Law Institute under the theme Artificial Intelligence and the Law, ended over the weekend and delivered a clear message that AI is no longer a future consideration for South Africa’s justice system.
From digital case management and electronic court filings to AI-assisted legal research, technology is already transforming how justice is administered.
