Dr Brian Flanagan, the Maynooth University associate law professor who made waves with his research on the influence of Wikipedia on judicial decision-making in Ireland, collaborated with Professor Erin Solovey and Professor Daniel Chen of Harvard University on the research.

Their paper was published on Monday as part of the proceedings of the 4th Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work in Amsterdam, where it won the prize for best paper.

Interacting with AI at Work: Perceptions and Opportunities from the UK Judiciary reports on focus group discussions held in the UK Supreme Court building and in the Royal Courts of Justice with a cross-section of 12 judges, including five members of the Supreme Court.

The paper reveals both scepticism and enthusiasm for the use of AI in different contexts.

One judge said: “When we come out of a case, we all meet together and discuss what we think about it and why. We can’t have a room of robots doing that.”

Another said: “People take comfort from having a human face, a human decision maker … I doubt whether AI will achieve that cathartic role that human justice does.”

However, one judge suggested that small civil claims could be handled with a “cheap and cheerful AI tool”.

“Anything that can improve efficiency and productivity whilst ensuring we don’t lose the essence of what justice is, is exciting and to be to be welcomed,” one said.

A judge said it was “kind of trying to strike that balance between [judges] not just becoming de-skilled and pressing buttons… but also enabling the enhancement of their productivity and speed and so on”.

Commenting on the research, Dr Flanagan said: “Our participants believe that the thoughtful integration of AI could enhance the judicial process, but that clear boundaries must be established to maintain the core human values inherent in justice.”