Science and tech should combat threats to people’s freedom: CJI

During the pandemic, he said, the Supreme Court introduced virtual hearings across India, and courts have held 43 million virtual hearings so far. He said this had particularly helped female lawyers who would face difficulties appearing in person due to their responsibilities at home. IT had also helped ordinary people access information and proceedings, he said.

He said the ease of communication provided by new technologies has enabled new behaviours too, such as online abuse and trolling. He said the law will have to intervene to safeguard dialogue on scientific development and individual rights when such behaviours emerge.

Talking about artificial intelligence, he said it is rapidly being deployed to enhance efficiency. “Even at the Supreme Court, AI is being tested for live transcription of court proceedings,” he said, asserting the significance of considering the values represented by specific deployment of AI models.

“The challenge here is to figure out how we can reap the benefits of this technology while curbing its potential for harm,” Justice Chandrachud said.

He said online abuse and harassment can stifle free and open expression. “A significant number of people in India cannot effectively exercise their freedom because they lack access to necessary resources and public goods. Technology should play a role in expanding the range of opportunities,” he said.

Justice Chandrachud also threw a question to the graduates. Is shared prosperity worth the suffering of a single innocent child?

The CJI narrated to the students American writer Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1973 short story, The Wind’s Twelve Quarters, in which the imprisonment of a child ensures the prosperity and joy of a city. “In our own real world, we are also faced with similar dilemmas,” Justice Chandrachud said. “Will your contributions leave this world a better place? Perhaps, most importantly, will it be a better place for everyone (including that imprisoned child)? Or will your future also come at the cost of some suffering that you choose to ignore — a child who is imprisoned?”