Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said today (31 Oct) that Singapore currently has no plans to use artificial intelligence during sentencing in courts.

Pointing out some of the potential biases that may arise in AI systems that are used for sentencing in other countries, the Chief Justice said that he personally doesn’t think Singapore’s criminal justice field will develop in this direction in the foreseeable future.

He, however, said that AI may be able to improve people’s ability to seek justice in simpler civil cases in the early stage.

The Chief Justice added that artificial intelligence is still an important topic that Singapore must pay close attention to.

Chief Justice Menon made these remarks during a keynote speech at a two-day sentencing conference that was held online. About 250 people from the criminal justice system attended the conference that was jointly organised by the State Courts and the Singapore Academy of Law.