AI cannot replace lawyers and judges – Justice Asante

Justice Edward Amoako Asante, nominated for the Supreme Court, has dismissed the notion that artificial intelligence could one day replace lawyers or judges. While he acknowledged AI's potential to revolutionize legal practice by aiding in research, contract reviews, and other routine tasks, Asante emphasized that AI cannot replicate the distinct reasoning and judgment of the human mind.

During a session before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Thursday, August 27, Asante emphasized that lawyers must still scrutinize and validate AI-generated information before accepting it. He explained that AI could assist legal professionals by processing information and generating research, but users must continuously query and refine its responses to obtain useful results.

Asante cautioned against accepting AI-generated information without verification, citing instances where lawyers had relied on inaccurate legal authorities produced by AI and faced consequences. He suggested that AI should be developed and customized to meet the specific needs of institutions, possibly incorporating relevant laws and court cases into a properly trained AI system to provide more useful and context-specific assistance to lawyers and judges in Ghana’s legal system.

Despite this, Asante stressed that human professionals would remain accountable for reviewing and approving the information produced by AI. He warned that over-dependence on AI could be an issue, with some lawyers potentially wanting to replace their profession with technology.