Artificial Intelligence in Judicial Systems. Quo vadis, justitia?

The presence in our daily life of information and communication technologies is moving up at the same time as what we call artificial intelligence (AI) is increasing as well as being more valuable. Public administrations cannot remain passive in the face of a new social reality that also offers a brilliant opportunity to grow their efficiency and effectiveness in very specific areas such as, for example, the fight against fraud and irregularities. The legal challenges presented by AI, however, are many and very significant, whose impact is projected in very wide-ranging areas such as the protection of personal data, equality, legal certainty, transparency and accountability, among others. The troubles increase exponentially in the field of justice and, especially, for certain uses in the framework of the criminal proceedings. Although justice is not and should not become a mere act of prediction, nor a mathematical model that can be enclosed in formulas, the truth is that the use of AI in certain contexts can be very useful, in all sorts of proceedings. The article sets out in this complex scenario the terms of the debate, analysing the European legal framework, the uses of AI in the field of criminal justice and its impact on fundamental rights.