SC: AI won’t replace court stenographers

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) plans to use voice-to-text software to transcribe court proceedings, but Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo yesterday gave assurance that court stenographers will not become obsolete.

“Text-to-voice (transcription tools) will not eliminate the job of stenographers but will make them more efficient and reliable,” Gesmundo said during an open forum at the SC’s meeting with development partners and stakeholders for the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027.

Gesmundo explained that court stenographers will be trained and their skills will be “retooled” for them to be “more efficient and reliable” with the use of artificial intelligence.

The SC is also conducting pilot tests on using AI for legal research.

The learning machine, Gesmundo said, is currently learning the different languages and accents in the country to be able to understand and transcribe court proceedings.