Could Robot Judges Believe? Epistemic Ambitions of the Criminal Trial as we approach the Digital Age

Criminal proof is unique, in that it must be able to account for the justification of both: accurate fact-finding and a fair trial. This is Sarah Summers’ main message in her article on the epistemic ambitions of the criminal trial, which focusses on belief as a sort of proxy for societal acceptance...

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Main Author: Sabine Gless
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Marcial Pons 2023-03-01
Series:Quaestio Facti
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistes.udg.edu/quaestio-facti/article/view/22849
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author Sabine Gless
author_facet Sabine Gless
author_sort Sabine Gless
collection DOAJ
description Criminal proof is unique, in that it must be able to account for the justification of both: accurate fact-finding and a fair trial. This is Sarah Summers’ main message in her article on the epistemic ambitions of the criminal trial, which focusses on belief as a sort of proxy for societal acceptance of truth as a set of facts established by compliance to procedural rules. This commentary tests her finding by scrutinizing whether it is conceivable that robots, complying to all rules, assist in fact-finding with a specific form of legal belief based on a sophisticated probability weighting opaque to humans. The result is in accordance with Sarah Summers: as long as robots cannot explain their beliefs, any criminal proof based on them flounders as it can neither be part of a fair trial nor ensure acceptance in the existing institutional framework.
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spelling doaj.art-3c12a60ff0e54c048a5c34cc61d1d9382023-09-03T14:12:43ZengMarcial PonsQuaestio Facti2660-45152604-62022023-03-01510.33115/udg_bib/qf.i5.2284910849Could Robot Judges Believe? Epistemic Ambitions of the Criminal Trial as we approach the Digital AgeSabine Gless0University of BaselCriminal proof is unique, in that it must be able to account for the justification of both: accurate fact-finding and a fair trial. This is Sarah Summers’ main message in her article on the epistemic ambitions of the criminal trial, which focusses on belief as a sort of proxy for societal acceptance of truth as a set of facts established by compliance to procedural rules. This commentary tests her finding by scrutinizing whether it is conceivable that robots, complying to all rules, assist in fact-finding with a specific form of legal belief based on a sophisticated probability weighting opaque to humans. The result is in accordance with Sarah Summers: as long as robots cannot explain their beliefs, any criminal proof based on them flounders as it can neither be part of a fair trial nor ensure acceptance in the existing institutional framework.https://revistes.udg.edu/quaestio-facti/article/view/22849criminal proofrobot judgeslegal beliefparticipation rights in criminal trialsevidence lawelectronic monk
spellingShingle Sabine Gless
Could Robot Judges Believe? Epistemic Ambitions of the Criminal Trial as we approach the Digital Age
Quaestio Facti
criminal proof
robot judges
legal belief
participation rights in criminal trials
evidence law
electronic monk
title Could Robot Judges Believe? Epistemic Ambitions of the Criminal Trial as we approach the Digital Age
title_full Could Robot Judges Believe? Epistemic Ambitions of the Criminal Trial as we approach the Digital Age
title_fullStr Could Robot Judges Believe? Epistemic Ambitions of the Criminal Trial as we approach the Digital Age
title_full_unstemmed Could Robot Judges Believe? Epistemic Ambitions of the Criminal Trial as we approach the Digital Age
title_short Could Robot Judges Believe? Epistemic Ambitions of the Criminal Trial as we approach the Digital Age
title_sort could robot judges believe epistemic ambitions of the criminal trial as we approach the digital age
topic criminal proof
robot judges
legal belief
participation rights in criminal trials
evidence law
electronic monk
url https://revistes.udg.edu/quaestio-facti/article/view/22849
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