A senior Israeli judge has warned that artificial intelligence poses a fundamental threat to the court system’s ability to establish facts, calling for a return to stricter evidence rules to combat the growing danger of AI-generated forgeries.

Judge Alex Stein, speaking at the Bar Association conference in Eilat, outlined how AI technology is destabilising traditional legal procedures that have underpinned the judiciary for centuries. He expressed concern that deepfakes and synthetic evidence created by AI systems could undermine the very foundation of fact-finding in courts, which depends on jurors and judges being able to trust the authenticity of documents and testimony.

To counter these risks, Judge Stein proposed implementing more rigorous safeguards, including mandatory personal verification of documents, stricter requirements for establishing the chain of custody for evidence, and tough penalties for those who attempt to forge evidence using AI. The proposals reflect growing concerns among legal professionals worldwide about how to adapt court procedures to a world where synthetic media is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from authentic material.

The warning comes as courts across the globe grapple with how to handle AI-generated content in legal proceedings. Israel’s judiciary is among the first to formally address the issue, signalling that legal systems may need significant reform to maintain public confidence in their ability to determine facts fairly and accurately.

Source: Maariv — Original article in Hebrew.