Pimentel tells judiciary in jest: I don’t want anyone convicted by AI

MANILA,  Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Monday cautioned the judiciary against the use of artificial intelligence (AI), saying in jest that he would not want to see anyone convicted by AI.

Funding for AI was included in the proposed P63 billion budget of the judiciary for 2025 which was tackled on the Senate floor on Monday.

During the plenary discussion, Pimentel lamented that delay in the disposition of cases remains one of the two major issues being hurled at the judiciary. The second issue, he said, is the alleged corruption within the institution.

“I just siguro appeal to the members of the judiciary [to] make good use of your time. Ang dami kasing apekatado sa mga kaso (There’s so many people affected by the cases). They are really affected by the delay,” the senator said.

He then cited as an example a case that has been pending for 10 years now.

“So we really have to address this issue of delay. Of course, I understand that we need the assistance of computers, ICT (information and communication technology),” Pimentel said.

“Pero sa AI, hinay-hinay lang tayo (Let’s take it slow with AI). I don’t want anybody to be convicted by AI, Mr. President,” he added.

The senator was quick, however, to clarify that he was only joking.

“Pero joke lang po ‘yun kasi maraming nanood satin (But that’s just a joke because a lot of people are watching us),” he said. “The courts have no plan of using AI when it comes to judging, to adjudicating cases. It must be the capacity of the human mind.”

Senator Grace Poe, who was defending the judiciary’s budget as head of the Senate finance committee,  thanked the minority leader for clarifying his remark.

“Yes, again for the record, we can never really replace human judgment and talent but we can supplement it,” she pointed out.

The panel head did not say how much funding was allotted for the judiciary’s AI use next year.

Court Administrator Raul Villanueva earlier told senators that the judiciary is currently using AI for research and the monitoring of cases.

READ: SC eyes use of AI in drafting of decisions 

“Hopefully, we can come up with an AI that can translate testimonies in one dialect … into, for example, Ilocano to English … that’s something we’re already looking into,”  he said when the Senate subcommittee on finance tackled the judiciary’s budget in September.