CJI's word of caution: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Saturday (July 22) flagged the changing trends with the growing audiences of social media and artificial intelligence (AI) and said that both have the potential for abuse and therefore curbing their misuse is among the prime challenges.
The CJI said that technology, especially one fostering quicker communication to a larger spectrum of audiences such as social media, and artificial intelligence (AI), should create affordances against misuse because human values and individual privacy are of paramount importance.
His remarks came while addressing the graduating students at the 60th convocation of IIT Madras.
"Social media has allowed us to connect with people, removing barriers of age and nationality. But this new communication tool has led to new behaviour like online abuse and trolling. Likewise, AI contains the potential for misuse, mislead, threaten, or even bully individuals. Curbing its misuse for harmful purposes will be among the key challenges for you," the CJI said.
He noted that “new technology cannot exist in a vacuum” and has to be made benign with safeguards for affable use and said that technology should facilitate reliable use without causing any trepidation among the people about the possible breach of their personal liberty.
Justice Chandrachud said that technology should not create fear in the minds of users through online abuse or harassment.
“An impact of AI recruitment tools is that it appeared to show discrimination or bias,” he said.
CJI cites Supreme Court
The CJI cited the example of how the Supreme Court put technology to good use and said that during the COVID pandemic, the court held 43 million virtual hearings. He said that the courts across the country also held similar virtual hearings to facilitate the lawyers and litigants to appear before the courts for the disposal of cases.
This paved the way for “inclusivity and access to justice”, he said.
The CJI said that the conduct "tele law" facility was another such instance that benefitted in providing legal services to the people.
“Going a step further, the apex court has now launched an AI system for transcription of live proceedings on an experimental basis,” the CJI said.
He said no technology can be neutral if deployed in a real-world context.
A total of 2,571 students graduated during the 60th convocation and 453 doctorate degrees including 19 for joint degrees with foreign universities received their degree certificates.
(With PTI inputs)
ALSO READ | Supreme Court goes paperless; CJI DY Chandrachud announces free WiFi to advocates, litigants
ALSO READ | Mehbooba Mufti 'reminds' CJI Chandrachud of Article 370, urges for early hearing in SC
