KOCHI: Taking note of the excessive use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools by members of the District Judiciary, the Kerala High Court has issued guidelines stating that judges must not use AI tools to arrive at any findings, grant reliefs or issue orders or judgments under any circumstances.
This is the first instance in the country where a High Court has framed specific guidelines for the use of AI tools in the District Judiciary.
As per the policy, most AI tools, including ChatGPT and DeepSeek, are cloud-based technologies. In such platforms, any input provided by users may be accessed or used by the service providers to further their interests, including fine-tuning their models. Submitting information such as case facts, personal identifiers, privileged communications or uploading any other documents related to litigation to these AI tools may result in a serious breach of confidentiality, it stated.
“Hence, the use of all cloud-based services should be avoided, except for approved AI tools,” the HC said.
It stated that the increasing availability of and access to AI tools are making a profound impact on diverse fields, including law. While AI tools can be beneficial, their indiscriminate use might result in negative consequences, including violation of privacy rights, data security risks and erosion of trust in judicial decision-making. “Therefore, the judicial officers and the staff of the District Judiciary are advised to exercise extreme caution while using AI tools,” th stated.
Will take action if policy violated: Kerala HC
The policy pointed out that it is a documented fact that most AI tools produce erroneous, incomplete or biased results. Hence, even with regard to the use of approved AI tools, extreme caution is advised. Any results generated by approved AI tools, including legal citations or references, must be meticulously verified by the judicial officers. This applies to all approved AI tools, including databases of case laws and statutes that use AI tools to generate, summarise, or fine-tune results.
As per the policy guidelines, AI tools shall not be used to arrive at any findings, reliefs, order or judgment under any circumstances, as the responsibility for the content and integrity of the judicial order, judgment, or any part thereof lies fully with the judges.
The High Court clarified that violation of the policy may result in disciplinary action, and rules pertaining to disciplinary proceedings shall prevail.