Supreme Court flags ‘alarming’ use of AI in drafting petitions, cites use of non-existent ‘Mercy vs Mankind’ case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, February 17, flagged the rising use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in drafting petitions. The discovery that AI was being used to draft petitions was made when the Supreme Court came across certain mentions of cases that were either non-existent or were quoted incorrectly.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and BV Nagarathna mentioned during a hearing that some lawyers had started using AI for drafting, Bar and Bench reported.

CJI Surya Kant said, “We have been alarmingly told that some lawyers have started using AI for drafting. There was something with Justice Dipankar Datta also. All precedents cited never existed.”

Justice BV Nagarathna recalled a case which does not exist: “There was a case of Mercy vs Mankind which does not exist,” she said, adding another such instance and said, “Then some are citing real Supreme Court cases, but those quoted portions do not even exist in the judgment.”

The developments comes several weeks after the court had assured that judges were being very cautious about the use of AI and won't let this technology take over decision-making.

The chief justice said, “We use it in a very over-conscious manner. We do not want this to overpower our judicial decision-making power. If you have good suggestions, you can give that on the administrative side.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken about the fears of possible disruptions driven by AI into the job market, saying that the Central government is approaching it as a "present imperative" rather than a future problem.

PM Modi, in an interview with ANI, said, “I understand the concern of our youth about AI-driven disruptions in the job market. Preparation is the best antidote to fear. That is why we have been investing in skilling and re-skilling our people for an AI-driven future. The government has launched one of the most ambitious skilling initiatives in the world. We're not approaching this as a future problem but we're treating it as a present imperative.”

"History has shown that work does not disappear due to technology. Its nature changes and new types of jobs are created. While some jobs may be redefined, digital transformation will also add new tech jobs to India's economy. For centuries, there have been fears that innovation and technological revolutions will eliminate jobs. Yet history teaches us that whenever innovation happens, new opportunities emerge. The same will be true in the age of AI," the prime minister added.

(With agency inputs)

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