The Madras High Court has observed that tools such as ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence applications cannot be considered equivalent to a qualified lecturer, especially in the context of legal education.
The remarks came while hearing appeals filed by the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University and the Government Law College against a single judge’s direction to review rules that denied students permission to write semester examinations due to insufficient attendance and required them to repeat the academic year.
A Division Bench comprising Justices S.M. Subramaniam and N. Senthilkumar noted that students secure seats in preferred colleges amid intense competition and must recognise the value of those opportunities.
The Bench stressed that effective legal training depends on classroom learning and that online classes cannot be a substitute for direct instruction. It added that while AI may come close to human intelligence, it cannot teach integrity, discipline and ethics—qualities that, the court said, are learnt in the classroom.
Holding that the existing rules are clear, the Bench set aside the single judge’s order that had called for a review of the regulations.
