New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Sunday advised law schools against completely banning artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies in classrooms. He said students should instead be trained to use such tools in a supervised, transparent and ethical manner.
Speaking at the second edition of the Vise Chancellors' Conclave, organised by National Law University in Jodhpur, the CJI stated that a complete prohibition would leave students unprepared for a legal profession that increasingly relies on technology, as reported by Live Law.
He acknowledged concerns that an overreliance on AI could impair students' ability to construct arguments independently, leading them to accept plausible-sounding but legally incorrect answers. However, he believes that such risks should be addressed through education and supervision rather than prohibition.
"But prohibition cannot be the answer to that risk. A student who is forbidden from encountering these tools in a supervised, disciplined academic setting will still encounter them when they enter a law firm, a corporate office, a public institution, a policy organisation, a technology-driven workplace or a courtroom. By denying them these tools, we won't have protected that student; we will have sent them into professional life a step behind their peers, unfamiliar with technologies that their colleagues and institutions increasingly expect them to understand," the CJI said.
AI Should Assist, Not Replace Legal Judgment
CJI Surya Kant stressed that law schools must teach students how to question and verify AI-generated outputs instead of merely learning how to operate technological tools. “Our law schools must cultivate in students not merely technological familiarity, but the judgement to know when technology can assist, when it must be questioned, and when it must yield to human reasoning,” he said.
He stated that students should understand when technological assistance can be relied on, when verification is necessary, and where the line is between using technology to supplement legal judgement and allowing it to replace human judgement. The CJI suggested that these issues be included in the legal curriculum and pedagogy with the same seriousness as constitutional law and evidence.
The CJI stated that technology is rapidly transforming legal practice, including contract drafting, due diligence, legal research, dispute resolution, and evidence handling. Future lawyers will increasingly rely on AI tools to analyse precedents, identify legal risks, and manage large amounts of data.
He called on law schools to lead research and training on topics like algorithmic accountability, data protection, digital access to justice and online dispute resolution. "But technological progress, he warned, should not further worsen existing inequalities. AI and digital legal services should be beneficial to litigants outside of big cities and available to the financially disadvantaged.
He emphasised that legal education must evolve alongside technology while keeping fairness and accountability at its core. As he put it, "Justice is faster, but never make it less fair.”
