Steady advance of robotics raises new possibilities, legal and paralegal

Law – like politics – is a profession where the very human gift of the gab and adroit persuasion most often carry the day. So, the recent spate of studies on whether robots can be lawyers should be seen as a bit of fearmongering amid a famously pugnacious calling. More so as there is no suggestion yet that black-gowned droids will elbow out modern-day Perry Masons from their places at the bar in India and abroad. As long as the courts are still dominated by human judges and juries, that is. However, since robots will inevitably be upgraded from today’s basic models, already programmed to do the legal grunt work of sifting through huge quantities of data, analyse contracts and assess litigation risks, there is no guarantee that they will not soon acquire the smarts and the ambition to actually argue their case, too.

And if, unlike topnotch legal professionals all over the world, they keep their fees significantly lower, the temptation to hire robots may become irresistible for many. The moot point, of course, is whether then it could indeed be a short hop from the bar to the bench for next generation lawbots, with constitutions, all judgments and precedents stored in prodigious memory banks. Justice is famously deemed to be blind—and also often not very speedy—but should it be allowed to become “un”human too?