National Center for State Courts, Thomson Reuters Institute Convene AI Policy Consortium to Explore AI and GenAI Opportunities

WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 7, 2024 – The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the Thomson Reuters Institute (TRI), part of global content and technology company Thomson Reuters (TSX/NYSE: TRI), held the inaugural meeting of the TRI/NCSC AI Policy Consortium for Law and Courts. Known as the AI Policy Consortium, the joint initiative was established to inform and educate the judiciary about the opportunities and challenges of the evolving artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) landscape. The AI Policy Consortium is comprised of forward-leaning legal thinkers and court leaders to address these vital goals as well as discuss policy developments and responses crucial to the future of the justice ecosystem. 

The consortium developed four workstreams to examine the opportunities and risk of AI and GenAI:

• AI governance and ethics
• Workforce readiness for AI adoption
• Rules and practices pertaining to AI
• AI’s impact on access to justice

Leading experts from the courts, law firms, academia, technology, associations, and NGOs, will contribute to the work and outcomes of the workstreams. Resources developed from these efforts will be made public on a dedicated website for the NCSC-TRI strategic AI partnership. 

Additionally, the AI Policy Consortium will offer curated educational courses, which will begin this summer, for the judiciary to learn more about AI and GenAI, especially their effect on the legal sector.

The rapid evolution of GenAI is transforming the legal landscape at a pace that makes it challenging for legal professionals and courts to foresee its full impact on the judicial system. The AI Policy Consortium will be instrumental in discussing policy developments and formulating appropriate responses, which are vital for the future of the justice ecosystem encompassing lawyers, courts, litigants, and society at large.

While GenAI technology may eventually standardize for industries that can adapt quickly, the realm of courts, disputes, and litigation tends to be more traditional, rule-oriented, and less flexible. The legal system's societal advantage lies in its stability and predictability. However, its drawback is its slow adaptability in a world that is rapidly changing due to technological advancements.

It is imperative to find a way to preserve the beneficial aspects of the legal system while simultaneously preparing it for future developments and addressing existing inequities. The increasing accessibility of GenAI technologies has created unprecedented opportunities to explore large-scale solutions that can redress justice barriers in the courts and remedy the “justice gap” that exists for pro se litigants. By leveraging these advancements, it is possible to revolutionize the legal practice and dramatically improve access to justice for underserved populations. 

The AI Policy Consortium’s work will institutionalize these benefits, ensuring the legal system can adapt to the evolving AI and GenAI technological landscape while also harnessing their potential to create a more equitable and accessible justice system for all.

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters (NYSE / TSX: TRI) (“TR”) informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. The company serves professionals across legal, tax, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Its products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth, and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is a world leading provider of trusted journalism and news. For more information, visit tr.com.

National Center for State Courts

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a nonprofit court organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. Founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, NCSC provides education, training, technology, management, and research and design services to the nation’s state courts and courts around the world. For more information, visit ncsc.org.

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