AI feature at legal website can simplify complex Canadian cases for Sask. public

Dan Zakreski · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 08, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Need assistance knowing a analyzable ineligible decision? Artificial quality is coming to the rescue. 

For much than 2 decades, the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII)  a non-profit enactment created and funded by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, has gathered and published legal decisions from crossed the country.

Users searching Saskatchewan decisions tin present find a sidebar that provides a summary of the lawsuit that includes the facts, procedural history, submissions, ineligible issues and outcome. The AI diagnostic volition now be capable to entree decisions published successful different provinces.

"We tin make summaries of cases, abbreviated summaries of a fewer sentences describing the case. We tin make agelong summaries, redeeming clip to the user," said Ivan Mokanov, president of Lexum, the Montreal tech institution that provides the work to CanLII.

One of the issues with AI is verifying that the output is accurate.

Mokanov says what makes the CanLII diagnostic truthful beardown is that it's not based connected a wide cognition search. Rather, the programme is evaluating a circumstantial document.

"Those technologies are champion for reading, penning and summarizing. They're exceptionally bully … and they person superior skills [to] astir humans, and they're precise fast," helium said.

'We person millions and millions of cases. We person hundreds of thousands of pieces of authorities and regulations. We person secondary sources.

"So, assuming that we person a beardown hunt motor capable to retrieve the close accusation successful the database, past we tin conscionable propulsion retired the [AI] on it and say, well, 'Can you prevention maine immoderate clip and archer maine what this lawsuit is about?'"

The afloat substance of the determination is ever published alongside the AI summary truthful they can beryllium compared, helium says.

Devan Mescall, a prof astatine the Edwards schoolhouse of concern astatine the University of Saskatchewan, says 1 of the main advantages of that feature is that it makes summaries of legal decisions accessible to the wide public.

However, helium besides flags accuracy of the information arsenic a potential issue.

"It tin springiness you a truly large starting point, but you request a truly cautious oculus to reappraisal it, and you request that expertise inheritance to beryllium capable to place erstwhile AI is close and erstwhile it starts taking america down a antithetic path," helium said.

"Whenever we look astatine AI, and this is wherever my research is, it's that enactment betwixt quality and machine. And truthful arsenic agelong arsenic the quality realizes what they're getting and what the limitations of that are, it tin person large potential."

Mescall says different imaginable pitfall is that AI removes grooming opportunities, a important constituent for a young lawyer.

"People can't conscionable leap from being a assemblage postgraduate to a partner," Mescall said. "They request to learn connected these basal tasks, and truthful AI replacing these tasks, it interrupts that benignant of the learning."