--- description: AI tools can give overlooked victims—from abused women to threatened journalists—better access to legal representation. title: Why Aren’t We Using AI to Advance Justice? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7e9ce8c543952b9/6998ccd41f67090f75f57140/ai-justice-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jan 15, 2026 # Why Aren’t We Using AI to Advance Justice? by [Amal Clooney](/author/amal-clooney/) and [Philippa Webb](/author/philippa-webb/)  Women gather at a neighborhood square in Lilongwe, Malawi, on June 8 Women gather at a neighborhood square in Lilongwe, Malawi, on June 8Zafer Goder—Anadolu/Getty Images In Malawi, one in three women is a victim of violence. Almost one in ten girls is [forced into marriage](https://ccp.jhu.edu/2022/09/19/married-child-stopping-malawi/#:~:text=September%2019%2C%202022-,In%20Malawi%2C%2042%20percent%20of%20girls%20are%20married%20before%20their,Programs%2C%20that%20is%20slowly%20changing. "undefined") before turning 15\. But fewer than 800 lawyers serve the population of 22 million. What chance does a girl in a rural village have of finding legal help—let alone affording it? This is the justice gap: the chasm between those who need the law’s protection and those who can access it. According to the World Justice Project, only about 10% of people [reach a lawyer](https://worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/documents/WJP-A2J-2019.pdf#:~:text=More%20than%205.1%20billion%20people%20%E2%80%93%20or,countries%20and%20jurisdictions%20in%202017%20and%202018. "undefined") when they need one. Yet across the world, grave offenses are going unpunished. [Cyber criminals](https://time.com/7317012/can-cyber-privateers-combat-cybercrime/ "undefined") attack hospitals, elections, and infrastructure with impunity. [Journalists](https://time.com/7281669/threats-to-press-freedom/ "undefined") are imprisoned at record rates under defamation, “fake news,” and terror laws. In much of the world, women’s rights exist only on paper. So the people who need justice most cannot get it. But what if AI could change that? We have co-founded the [Oxford Institute of Technology and Justice](https://www.techandjustice.bsg.ox.ac.uk/ "undefined") (OITJ)—a partnership between the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government and the Clooney Foundation for Justice—because we believe it can. With [Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/group/ai-for-good-research-lab/ "undefined") we're developing AI-powered legal assistants that bring legal help to those who need it most. Our tool in Malawi, developed with the Women’s Lawyers’ Association, is an AI-driven chatbot to help women understand their rights and access free legal representation through conversations in their local language on their device. Our Journalists’ Legal Assistant, built with the [Committee to Protect Journalists](https://cpj.org/ "undefined"), connects detained or threatened journalists to free legal support in real time. Our closed-dataset tools are built on verified legal information and the lawyers they recommend are vetted. Soon we will add voice-to-text and geolocation features to pinpoint lawyers close to home—and replicate these tools across Africa and Asia. We are also making _pro bono_ lawyers more effective. Because even when help exists, it's often too slow. Our Pro Bono Assistant accelerates core legal work such as preparing protection orders, one of the most effective remedies for [abused women](https://time.com/5192170/domestic-violence-black-women-self-esteem/ "undefined") and children. Instead of struggling through dense forms, survivors can use the tool to recount what happened in their own words and produce a legally compliant protection order request that is reviewed by a lawyer. We're developing a similar tool for journalists’ bail applications. Yet as we harness AI for justice we must also confront its dangers. [AI in courts is growing fast](https://time.com/7306226/ai-criminal-justice-police-courts-cops/ "undefined")—and not always safely. AI is triaging cases, drafting pleadings, assessing witness credibility through facial-expression analysis and even generating avatars of murder victims that address defendants in court. AI tools are being rolled out across all Chinese courts. Argentina's official AI drafts rulings and predicts case outcomes with 96% accuracy in under 20 seconds. The U.K. is using algorithms to assess reoffending risk for bail and parole decisions. And courts across the world are grappling with deepfakes and manipulated evidence. Through our [AI Justice Atlas](https://www.techandjustice.bsg.ox.ac.uk/ai-atlas "undefined") we are tracking the use of AI in courtrooms around the world andhow it is being regulated. We are building the Fair Trial Adviser—a retrieval-augmented AI system grounded in our textbook, [_The Right to a Fair Trial_ _in International Law_](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-right-to-a-fair-trial-in-international-law-9780198808398 "undefined") —to enable judges and lawyers to access reliable standards in real time. We'll offer training to over 10,000 judges from 160 countries on the safe use of AI and propose new global rules to ensure trials are fair in the AI era. Finally, we are working to ensure that the law can meet the threat of cyberattacks. More than 130 countries have suffered cyber disruptions, with most state-sponsored attacks emanating from North Korea, China, Russia and [Iran](https://time.com/7345555/iran-protests-deaths-us-trump-israel/ "undefined"). These attacks don’t just steal data—they cripple our financial systems, hospitals, schools and elections. They obstruct truth and amplify lies. And the toll is staggering. From Costa Rica to Albania, ransomware has paralyzed government services including border control. A cyberattack on hospitals in Ireland [disrupted treatment](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-02-03/ireland-hospital-ransomware-attack-fractured-hacker-group-conti "undefined") for hundreds of cancer patients. Another targeted the plane of a senior European politician. There are an estimated 750 million [cyberattack](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-ai-effect-amazon-sees-nearly-1-billion-cyber-threats-a-day-15434edd "undefined") attempts every day. And we now face a new reality: AI systems themselves are beginning to orchestrate cyber campaigns. Yet legal pathways for accountability remain weak. So we are working to close that justice gap—examining how international law must evolve, from proposals for a “digital Geneva Convention” to new standards of evidence to prove who is responsible for such crimes. A functioning justice system is the bedrock of our most basic freedoms. We have an opportunity to shape how [AI](https://time.com/7342494/ai-changed-work-forever/ "undefined") transforms it, and a duty to do so responsibly. The fears around AI are extreme. But so are the possibilities—if we can get it right. _Clooney and Webb are professors at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government and co-founders of the Oxford Institute of Technology and Justice_. 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