Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said that artificial intelligence is no longer a speculative technology but a functioning reality, posing one of the biggest challenges to international law. He stressed that decisions made this decade will shape technology, power, freedom, and justice.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has said that artificial intelligence is no longer a speculative technology but a functioning reality, and has emerged as one of the most significant challenges for international law. He emphasized that the decisions taken during this decade will shape the future balance between technology, power, freedom, and justice.
He further emphasized that technology is neither naturally good nor naturally harmful. He was speaking at a public lecture at Birkbeck College, University of London, titled “Artificial Intelligence and International Law.”
He noted that, unlike earlier technological breakthroughs, AI does not only expand human capabilities it increasingly becomes involved in decision-making roles that have traditionally been viewed as uniquely human.
He said,
“Technology itself is neither inherently benevolent nor inherently harmful. Its impact depends upon the legal, political, and ethical frameworks within which societies choose to deploy it. The responsibility of law, therefore, is neither to resist technological progress nor to surrender unquestioningly before it. Its responsibility is to ensure that technological power remains accountable to constitutional values, democratic legitimacy, and human dignity,”
CJI Kant said AI is already reshaping governance, business, warfare, communication, public services, and increasingly the use of judicial and sovereign authority itself.
He said,
“Governments now utilise algorithmic systems to allocate welfare benefits, assess immigration applications, monitor borders, regulate financial systems, and support policing functions. Militaries are rapidly developing autonomous capabilities. Courts across jurisdictions are beginning to confront questions involving AI-generated evidence, automated decision-making, and digital due process. Private corporations possess technological capacities that rival, and in some instances exceed, the informational reach of sovereign states,”
He added that AI poses a major test for modern international law, and that the outcomes of this decade will shape how technology, power, freedom, and justice relate to one another for years to come.
He highlighted,
“The central challenge before us is to ensure that, in an age of intelligent machines, humanity retains authorship of the principles by which it is governed. If international law can rise to that challenge, artificial intelligence may become not merely a technological revolution, but an opportunity to reaffirm the values that lie at the foundation of democratic civilisation itself,”
CJI Kant, who is in the UK for a six-day visit, said artificial intelligence also brings major opportunities for improving the administration of justice.
He noted that in courts across different jurisdictions, AI-powered tools are increasingly being used to support legal research, case handling, translation, transcription of proceedings, document categorisation, and the identification of relevant judicial precedents.
He said,
“When deployed responsibly and under appropriate human supervision, such technologies can help reduce delays, improve efficiency, expand access to legal information, and enable judges and court administrators to focus their attention on the more nuanced and inherently human aspects of adjudication. AI, therefore, should not be viewed solely as a source of legal complexity, but also as a powerful instrument for advancing the constitutional promise of timely, accessible, and effective justice,”
He then questioned whether AI will transform international law further, since the shift is already taking place and whether international law’s current structure has the flexibility to handle this disruption.
He said,
“We need to assess if the fundamental doctrines of international law, namely sovereignty, human rights and enforceability of foreign awards/decrees will be able to adapt sufficiently to govern algorithmic power? Or are we approaching a moment that requires an entirely new legal imagination?”
According to the Chief Justice, traditional international law has long relied heavily on territorial boundaries, but AI disrupts those assumptions. He explained that AI systems often operate through globally spread infrastructures that can cross territorial limits with ease.
He said,
“A model may be trained on datasets collected across multiple jurisdictions, refined through computational infrastructure situated elsewhere, deployed through cloud-based systems spanning several continents, and ultimately produce decisions affecting individuals far removed from every point in that chain,”
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After thanking Birkbeck College for hosting the discussion, he said that at moments of deep technological change, it is essential for courts, universities, governments, and civil society to engage in dialogue.
Adding that the international community’s task is not only to control technological capabilities, but also to maintain legal responsibility in systems where decisions are increasingly shaped through algorithmic tools, he said,
“Ultimately, the future of artificial intelligence will be shaped not only by innovation but by the legal and moral choices that humanity collectively chooses to make,”
He warned that if accountability becomes too scattered to clearly determine who is responsible, then accountability itself may become ineffective or meaningless.
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