DoJ Launches Initiative to Study AI’s Impact on Legal System

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is launching a new initiative called ‘Justice AI’ to study the impact of emerging technologies like AI on the US Justice System. DoJ will soon initiate consultations with different stakeholders.

The discussions will contribute to a report for President Biden by the year's end, focusing on the utilization of AI within the department.

“Over the next six months, we will convene individuals from across civil society, academia, science, and industry to draw on varied perspectives and to understand and prepare for how AI will affect the department’s mission and how to ensure we accelerate AI’s potential for good while guarding against its risks,” Lisa Monaco, Deputy Attorney General at the Justice Department, while speaking at the University of Oxford, said.

These dialogues will encompass engagement with international counterparts contending with similar inquiries. They will serve as inputs for a report to be presented to President Biden by year-end regarding the application of AI within the criminal justice system.

Previously, a group of senators, led by Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, urged the DoJ to enhance its supervision of facial recognition technologies' deployment within the DoJ and its constituent agencies.

In a letter dated January 18 and addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the group of 17 Democrats and one independent pressed the DoJ to clarify how its policies and procedures guarantee that law enforcement's utilization of facial recognition technology aligns with civil rights safeguards.

“We are concerned that the use of certain forms of biometric technology, such as facial recognition technology, may potentially violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits “discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” based on “race, color, or national origin,” the letter said.