Katherine Forrest Discusses Potential Accuracy and Privacy Concerns in Courtroom Use of AI

Litigation partner Katherine Forrest spoke with Law360 about the increasing use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT by judges. In “Public May Accept AI Courts, But Judges Not So Sure,” published on June 8, Katherine discusses the potential benefits and concerns associated with courtroom use of AI.

“The biggest benefit is speed, the breadth and speed of the answers,” Katherine says. “So you're able to get a 50-state analysis of an arcane area of the law virtually immediately.” She notes that judges could be routinely using generative AI as a research assistant within a year.

Katherine also discusses potential concerns with courtroom use of AI, including accuracy, privacy and dependency. She notes that accuracy will become less of an issue as AI tools improve, but privacy could be a concern as pleadings that are confidential or filed under seal could inadvertently be uploaded to an AI platform that then reveals that private information. The biggest concern is that overworked judges will be tempted by the tools' speed and ease to become dependent on them for fact-finding and even decision-making. That dependency could lead jurists into letting their guard down when it comes to policing the tools' accuracy and confidentiality.

Katherine advises that judges should be learning how to use the technology now. “Train yourself on the tool in ways that are not impacting current decision-making, because there will be tools shortly that will become very useful,” she says.

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