AI takes on the paperwork clogging India’s court system

India's courts are overwhelmed by an enormous volume of paperwork, as highlighted by Kerala judge Suresh Babu in the annual report of nonprofit Adalat AI. The judge laments the endless task of writing, writing, writing, all day long. This inefficiency has serious consequences: as of 2024, nearly three-quarters of India's prison population was incarcerated without a conviction, awaiting processing.

Adalat AI addresses this problem by developing speech-recognition software tailored to India's legal system, along with AI tools to manage cases and court documents. Co-founder and CEO Utkarsh Saxena describes his team as "plumbers of the court system", experts in fixing and unclogging the system. For instance, when a witness provides an answer, the judge can dictate what should be recorded using Adalat's software.

Both parties then review the text on the screen before proceeding. These transcripts serve as the official record of the testimony. Saxena emphasizes that the goal is not to automate decision-making, but to automate administrative processes, thereby freeing up judges' time for tasks that truly matter. The success of this approach will be measured by whether faster paperwork leads to shorter cases.

Adalat's internal studies show significant improvements in the number of witnesses heard and orders issued at courts that utilize its tools, which have been installed in over 6,000 courtrooms across 11 states. Currently, a randomized evaluation by research center J-PAL is underway to further assess its impact. Some jurisdictions have even mandated the use of Adalat AI for recording witness testimony.

A similar initiative is underway in Singapore, where AI-powered transcription tools were introduced in December 2023.