Francis Burt Chambers was honoured last week to have former Chief Justice of the Federal Court, the Honourable James Allsop AC, deliver the 2023 Sir Francis Burt Oration.
Members of the judiciary, the Bar and the profession joined us to hear Mr Allsop’s insights into ‘the likely transformative changes to our lives, the law and the administration of justice, by digital technology and artificial intelligence’.
The Oration, titled ‘The Legal System and the Administration of Justice in a Time of Technological Change: Machines Becoming Humans, or Humans Becoming Machines?’ could not have been more topical. While acknowledging that new technologies, and generative AI, make it certain that ‘the tasks of junior and senior lawyers will change’ and that it ‘is undoubtedly a challenge for the courts’, Mr Allsop was clear that humanity remains fundamental to the administration of justice. One of Mr Allsop’s key messages was that it ‘is not just what is done, but how it is done. The process is both intensely human and analytical; it is both abstracted and experiential; it reflects a social or human bond between the state and the citizen’.
The annual Sir Francis Burt Oration honours the founder of the Independent Bar in WA, former Chief Justice and Governor of WA, Sir Francis Burt AC KCMG QC.
Please click here to view the paper delivered by the Hon James Allsop AC.