Describing artificial intelligence as an operational reality reshaping governance, commerce, warfare, communication, public administration, and the exercise of judicial and sovereign power, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has emphasised that technological power must remain accountable to constitutional values, democratic legitimacy, and human dignity.
Speaking at a public lecture in Birkbeck College of University of London on ‘Artificial Intelligence and International Law’, he underlined that choices made during this decade will shape the future relationship between technology, power, freedom, and justice as it posed one of the most significant tests for international law in its modern evolution,
“Technology itself is neither inherently benevolent nor inherently harmful. Its impact depends upon the legal, political, and ethical frameworks within which societies choose to deploy it. The responsibility of law, therefore, is neither to resist technological progress nor to surrender unquestioningly before it. Its responsibility is to ensure that technological power remains accountable to constitutional values, democratic legitimacy, and human dignity," the CJI said.
Justice Kant said unlike previous technological revolutions, AI did not merely enhance human capacity; it increasingly participated in decision-making processes that were historically considered uniquely human.
Artificial intelligence was no longer a speculative technology but an operational reality which posed one of the most significant tests for international law, said the CJI who is on a six-day UK trip.
“Governments now utilise algorithmic systems to allocate welfare benefits, assess immigration applications, monitor borders, regulate financial systems, and support policing functions. Militaries are rapidly developing autonomous capabilities. Courts across jurisdictions are beginning to confront questions involving AI-generated evidence, automated decision-making, and digital due process. Private corporations possess technological capacities that rival, and in some instances exceed, the informational reach of sovereign states," the CJI said.
“The central challenge before us is to ensure that, in an age of intelligent machines, humanity retains authorship of the principles by which it is governed. If international law can rise to that challenge, artificial intelligence may become not merely a technological revolution, but an opportunity to reaffirm the values that lie at the foundation of democratic civilisation itself," he said.
The CJI, however, said AI presented unprecedented opportunities for strengthening the administration of justice and across jurisdictions, courts are increasingly leveraging AI-driven tools to assist with legal research, case management, translation services, transcription of proceedings, document classification, and the identification of judicial precedents.
“When deployed responsibly and under appropriate human supervision, such technologies can help reduce delays, improve efficiency, expand access to legal information, and enable judges and court administrators to focus their attention on the more nuanced and inherently human aspects of adjudication. AI, therefore, should not be viewed solely as a source of legal complexity, but also as a powerful instrument for advancing the constitutional promise of timely, accessible, and effective justice," he said.
Organiser ‘refuses to take the question’
Some videos of the event circulating on the social media showed an attendee expressing concern about what she described as “growing hostility to dissent within India” and trying to address a question to the CJI.
However, an organiser immediately intervened. “With all due respect, I’m so sorry, I would not be able to take up that question since the topic is concerning artificial intelligence and international law. I am extremely sorry! We have to cut it off,” the organiser was heard saying in the video.
