Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates

Read documents on pleadings and motions to ascertain facts and issues.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can read pleadings and motions, extract relevant facts and legal issues, and produce structured summaries and issue lists with high reliability.

Provide information regarding the judicial system or other legal issues through the media and public speeches.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can fully produce informational materials and public speeches about the judicial system and legal issues at scale, subject to routine human review for accuracy and tone.

Rule on custody and access disputes, and enforce court orders regarding custody and support of children.

AI: Partial - AI can analyze custody disputes, predict outcomes, and draft orders or enforcement plans, but cannot responsibly make binding child‑welfare determinations or execute enforcement without human judicial oversight.

Rule on admissibility of evidence and methods of conducting testimony.

AI: Partial - AI can apply rules and precedent to recommend admissibility rulings and testimony methods, but it cannot render binding judicial rulings, so it can only partially perform this role.

Award compensation for damages to litigants in civil cases in relation to findings by juries or by the court.

AI: Partial - AI can calculate damages estimates and propose awards based on findings and precedent, but cannot formally award compensation since that requires judicial authority.

Monitor proceedings to ensure that all applicable rules and procedures are followed.

AI: Partial - AI can transcribe proceedings and flag likely procedural issues in real time, but cannot exercise judicial authority or fully interpret complex in‑court contexts and demeanor.

Preside over hearings and listen to allegations made by plaintiffs to determine whether the evidence supports the charges.

AI: Partial - AI can summarize allegations and evaluate evidentiary probabilities, but cannot preside with legal authority, make credibility determinations, or carry out on‑the‑spot courtroom management.

Research legal issues and write opinions on the issues.

AI: Partial - AI can perform comprehensive legal research and draft persuasive analyses, yet its outputs require human legal judgment, verification, and ethical accountability before becoming authoritative opinions.

Write decisions on cases.

AI: Partial - AI can generate well‑structured draft decisions based on input facts and law, but cannot assume the ultimate judicial responsibility or the discretionary, contextual reasoning required for final rulings.

Participate in judicial tribunals to help resolve disputes.

AI: Partial - AI can assist tribunals by researching law, drafting opinions, or proposing resolutions, but cannot serve as an authorized adjudicator or fully participate in formal judicial decision-making.

Advise attorneys, juries, litigants, and court personnel regarding conduct, issues, and proceedings.

AI: Partial - AI can produce guidance, model instructions, and explanatory materials for attorneys, jurors, and court staff, but cannot officially advise or replace on‑the‑record judicial or ethical guidance.

Interpret and enforce rules of procedure or establish new rules in situations where there are no procedures already established by law.

AI: Partial - AI can propose interpretations and draft procedural rules for novel situations, but cannot authoritatively establish binding rules or exercise the normative discretionary authority of a judge.

Settle disputes between opposing attorneys.

AI: Partial - AI can assist dispute resolution by analyzing positions and proposing settlements or rulings, but cannot impose settlements or substitute for a judge’s authority to resolve attorney disputes on the record.

Impose restrictions upon parties in civil cases until trials can be held.

AI: Partial - AI can recommend and draft temporary restrictions or injunctions, and identify legal standards, but cannot impose or enforce such orders without a human judge’s authorization and discretion.

Supervise other judges, court officers, and the court's administrative staff.

AI: Partial - AI can support supervision through administrative automation, scheduling, and performance analytics but cannot exercise the legal and managerial authority of supervising judges and staff.

Perform wedding ceremonies.

AI: Partial - AI can draft and simulate wedding ceremonies and scripts but generally cannot act as a legally authorized officiant to perform the marriage ceremony itself.

Sentence defendants in criminal cases, on conviction by jury, according to applicable government statutes.

AI: Not automatable - Sentencing is a statutory, discretionary, and authorized judicial act requiring legal authority, accountability, and live evaluation that AI cannot lawfully or reliably perform.

Grant divorces and divide assets between spouses.

AI: Not automatable - Granting divorces and legally dividing assets are final judicial determinations that require a judge's legal authority and case-specific adjudication that AI cannot execute.

Instruct juries on applicable laws, direct juries to deduce the facts from the evidence presented, and hear their verdicts.

AI: Not automatable - AI cannot instruct juries or preside over jury verdicts because those are authoritative judicial functions that legally require a human judge.

Conduct preliminary hearings to decide issues such as whether there is reasonable and probable cause to hold defendants in felony cases.

AI: Not automatable - Conducting preliminary hearings to decide probable cause is a judicial decision involving evaluation of testimony and evidentiary rulings that AI cannot lawfully or reliably make.