California’s judiciary, home to the largest network of state courts in the United States, is preparing to confront the rising tide of artificial intelligence. A proposed rule up for consideration this Friday could make it mandatory for all state courts to either adopt or customize a policy on the use of generative AI—unless they choose to ban it entirely.
At the center of this move is the Judicial Council of California, which governs 65 trial courts and 1,800 judges. If the proposal is greenlit, California would become the biggest judiciary in the country with a formal AI framework—joining the likes of Illinois, Delaware, and Arizona, which have already dipped their gavels into the AI waters.
The blueprint stems from a task force launched last year by Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, which laid out a model AI policy. By September, every court that permits the use of generative AI for judicial functions would be required to implement this policy or tailor it to local needs.
Key mandates? Courts must grapple head-on with the thorny issues of privacy, bias, security, and transparency. Feeding confidential information into public AI tools? Absolutely not. Letting discriminatory outputs slide? Forbidden. Courts will need strict oversight, including procedures to verify AI-generated content and disclose its use when the end product is entirely machine-made.
For now, the focus is on mundane administrative tasks—summarizing opinions, drafting internal memos, compiling performance reviews—but the door is creaking open for deeper integrations.
Yet nationwide, the pace is glacial. A recent survey found that only 17% of U.S. state courts currently use generative AI, and just over a third allow it at all.
Still, as more states like New York, Georgia, and Connecticut examine their own AI strategies, California’s pending decision could tilt the balance and signal a new era of algorithm-aware adjudication. Whether this move ends in revolution or regulation remains to be seen—but the code is on the docket.
