Algorithmic justice, education and the next generation of lawyers

On Thursday I published an article in English in LawAhead, the website of IE University’s Law School, discussing the future of the legal system and in particular the use of algorithms in some stages of trials and hearings that could help relieve overloaded courts, along with some ideas about training the next generation of lawyers.

Entitled “Algorithmic justice, education, and the lawyer of the future” (pdf), the article is essentially about innovation and how the legal system is adapting to new situations and using new tools to automate repetitive tasks by using algorithms capable of much more than carrying out simple assignments, and instead learning from the data we feed them.

A legal system that uses algorithms does means a less sophisticated or “second-rate” concept of justice, and instead can offer practical solutions in many cases, while at the same time being sufficiently sensitive to capture all its nuances, offer the right decisions and avoid the sad reality of “justice delayed is justice denied”.

Here’s a fragment of the article:

Throughout the history of information technology, computers have been seen as machines that automate repetitive tasks. For legal professionals, computers are typically used as basic office automation tools: machines capable of processing texts, calculating, creating presentations, or providing an interface for consulting databases. However, machine learning is refining this principle. Without any intention of using hyperbole and elaborating this point with an image of the Terminator — which still happens frequently in mainstream media — the shift from the idea of seeing a computer as a typewriter or a glorified calculator to seeing it as something that can learn from data and perform complex tasks is something that will be essential to define as a concept within the education of all legal professionals.

(En español, aquí)