Supreme Court judge Justice K V Viswanathan said artificial intelligence can never take over the essential responsibilities of the legal profession. He explained that a trained legal mind holds a natural advantage that no algorithm can ever truly match.
Supreme Court judge Justice K V Viswanathan said that artificial intelligence can never take over the essential responsibilities of the legal profession, because a trained legal mind has an advantage that no algorithm can match.
He was speaking at the 4th convocation ceremony of Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur, where former Chief Justice of India Bhushan Gavai attended as the guest of honour.
Talking about technology, Justice Viswanathan said that lawyers in the 21st Century must learn new technology-related skills.
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He pointed out,
“Anything that responsibly saves your time must be measured and mastered, which leads to an inevitable question: What is the role of AI in the legal profession?”
He added that AI, when used as an assistive tool, can genuinely help save time and lawyers must know how to use it properly.
According to him, lawyers can work together with AI, but they cannot allow AI to take over the core duties of the profession.
He said,
“You can partner with AI, but you can’t let AI replace the core functions that you are supposed to do,”
Justice Viswanathan stressed that legal professionals must at least understand the basics of how these tools function.
He explained,
“You must understand, at least fundamentally, how these tools work. You should know what prompt engineering is, understand how to interrogate its output, and how to spot when it is hallucinating.”
He reminded the audience that AI cannot take over human tasks.
He continued,
“You must also know at its limits, for example, it can retrieve, but it cannot judge, it can draft, but it cannot counsel.”
Justice Viswanathan also spoke about incidents in courts where lawyers used AI-generated citations that later turned out to be fake.
He said,
“The embarrassment caused to the professional is a separate issue, but the damage was caused to the client,”
He advised that artificial intelligence should be treated like any other professional tool, to be used carefully, skilfully, and with human judgment always in control. He stressed that no AI-generated document should ever be used by a lawyer without proper human checking.
He warned that once a person starts depending entirely on technology for thinking, they stop being a lawyer and instead become only a channel for information.
He said,
“A trained legal mind will always retain an edge that no algorithm can replicate,”
Justice Viswanathan also noted that AI works on probabilities, predicting the next word or outcome based on earlier patterns. While accepting that most people use AI today, he cautioned that it should never replace the lawyer’s own intellectual work.
Supreme Court judge Justice A.S. Chandurkar also shared his thoughts on AI during the event. He warned against letting technology weaken essential professional skills.
Justice Chandurkar said that technology and AI are transforming all areas of life, including the legal sector. They bring efficiency and innovation, but they also create new challenges. He said that today’s generation has a special responsibility to use technology wisely.
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He urged new lawyers not to let technology replace important abilities like reading, reasoning, drafting, and tasks that need direct human involvement.
He said,
“These skills are the foundation of the profession,”
Justice Chandurkar encouraged young lawyers to use technology to improve their work but reminded them to protect their original thinking. He said technology must always remain a tool, not a substitute for human intelligence.
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