CJI urges people to be cautious against misuse of AI

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said on Saturday that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to misuse, mislead, threaten and even bully people, adding that while social media has allowed people to connect with others, removing even age and geographical barriers, this has also led to online abuse and trolling.

The Chief Justice of India was addressing the convocation ceremony of the 60th batch of students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in Chennai.

The CJI told the students that curbing the misuse of technology for harmful purposes would be a key challenge for them.

"Today I want to leave you with two questions that I hope you will ask yourselves. What are the values your technology represents and what are its affordances,” Justice Chandrachud said.

He added, "When I say value, I do not mean the monetary worth of your ideas, innovations or technologies. I mean what principled values the technology represents and in particular, what are the values it furthers in the context you seek to deploy it.”

The CJI said that during the Covid period, the Supreme Court had held 43 million virtual hearings. Courts across the country had also held similar virtual hearings to facilitate the lawyers and litigants to appear before the courts for disposal of cases, he said.

Justice Chandrachud said that this paved the way for inclusivity and access to justice.

The CJI also said that values matter, adding that science and technology can empower people to secure liberty, equality and social justice.