Technology continues to transform modern life in profound ways, especially its impact on the justice system. The boom in digital evidence has created an avalanche of work for both prosecutors and defence attorneys. Meanwhile, the increasing adoption of AI tools is creating a new normal, rewriting legal workflows from the ground up.
To help criminal justice thrive in the age of AI, it’s not enough for its facilitators to simply understand their own evolving roles in the system. They also need to understand the roles of their peers, and that all officers of the court share this new normal. We’ve talked, and will continue to, about what AI tools can do for criminal defence attorneys and their children trust. But what do they mean for the larger system in which those attorneys operate?
Criminal defence attorneys enter into the justice system at a critical juncture and a distinct disadvantage. By the time they take a case, law enforcement and the prosecution have already begun slotting the evidence into a narrative against their client. Only in the discovery phase can the defence begin to get its bearings and figure out how best to push back, ideally with the assistance of powerful AI tools.
Defence attorneys who understand the ways in which these tools are being deployed by law enforcement officers (LEOs) can position themselves to better advocate for their clients. So, with that in mind, let’s take a closer look at AI-assisted law enforcement, the effects it’s having on criminal defence, and what a better future through legal AI might look like.
That’s why it’s so critical for defence attorneys to understand how AI has changed not only their own work, but also the work of law enforcement officers (LEOs). AI technology is changing the game for LEOs, as well, whether by enabling the use of data analytics for predictive policing, automated speech recognition (ASR) for bodycam transcription, or advanced drones for evidence collection.
