England: Judge calls for strict ethical standards governing AI in the legal sector

Mr Justice Robin Knowles made the call while giving evidence to the Law Society’s technology and the law policy commission, Legal Futures reports.

He said the financial sector had shown the danger in expecting businesses to self-regulate their use of AI.

The Law Society of England and Wales is currently examining the use of algorithms in the justice system and, more broadly, the impact of technology and data use on human rights.

Mr Justice Knowles said: “AI is going to go deeper into people’s lives than many things have before, and it’s imperative that we take the opportunity for law and ethics to travel with it.

“We have as a society developed law and ethics over thousands of years. That means they are ready for us and available for us in this journey.”

He added: “Haven’t we seen in the world of finance what happens without codes and the ethics they drive?

“Aren’t we at a stage where we are beginning to realise that, in business, there is a positive incentive to promote ethics and codes and standards, because without it business ultimately does not succeed?”

Mr Justice Knowles called to the bar in 1982 and has been a judge of the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court since October 2014.