Artificial intelligence is coming to court, too.

Researchers at University College London, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Sheffield created an artificially intelligent software program that ruled on a set of 584 cases previously brought before the European Court of Human Rights, just like a judge.

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In nearly 80 percent of cases focused on torture and degrading treatment, fair trials and privacy, the software came up with the same verdict as its human counterparts.

Don't worry, this isn't a face you're likely to see in a courtroom. Image: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan



"This can be useful, for both lawyers and judges, as an assisting tool to rapidly identify cases and extract patterns which lead to certain decisions," the study's authors wrote.

The discovered patterns were revealing.

The AI software showed justices on the European Court of Human Rights were often "realists" who based their decisions more on the facts of individual cases than they do on "legal reasons and arguments" presented to them.

The software was best able to predict the verdict of a case based on language patterns and the topical relevance of a case.

Researchers have said they don't expect civilians to stand before an artificially intelligent judge anytime soon, but they hope the software will make current courts more efficient.

Lawyers and justices could use the software to highlight patterns in prior cases that could help them understand new cases before them, using AI to streamline human decision-making.