The Bright but Modest Potential of Algorithms in the Courtroom

Abstract

This chapter investigates the potential of algorithms and machine learning (ML) to improve decision-making. It considers the best roles for algorithms while maintaining important elements of human judgment. There are essential human skills in judging, but algorithms could help systematize the judicial function and thus reduce the risk of human error, inconsistency, and individual bias. Algorithmic decision-making and ML could in principle mitigate these problems since algorithms are more consistent and rely on and can synthesize more data than a human. Yet, recent proposals to use algorithms in the civil justice system are still underdeveloped and face scepticism. This chapter evaluates the ..