Cui bono? Judicial decision-making in the era of AI: A qualitative study on the expectations of judges in Germany

Despite substantial artificial intelligence (AI) research in various domains, limited attention has been given to its impact on the judiciary, and studies directly involving judges are rare. We address this gap by using 20 in-depth interviews to investigate German judges’ perspectives on AI. The exploratory study examines (1) the integration of AI in court proceedings by 2040, (2) the impact of increased use of AI on the role and independence of judges, and (3) whether AI decisions should supersede human judgments if they were superior to them. The findings reveal an expected trend toward further court digitalization and various AI use scenarios. Notably, opinions differ on the influence of AI on judicial independence and the precedence of machine decisions over human judgments. Overall, the judges surveyed hold diverse perspectives without a clear trend emerging, although a tendency toward a positive and less critical evaluation of AI in the judiciary is discernible.