Legal robots deployed in China to help decide thousands of cases

'Legal robots' have been deployed on thousands of cases in China to help decide sentencing. The robots - which are about three feet tall and have heads shaped like toasters - review documents and identify problems with cases. They also advise on sentencing, and can generate arrest warrants and "approve indictments", said prosecutors in the eastern province of Jiangsu, where the robots are being piloted. Almost 15,000 legal cases have been reviewed by the robots since they were deployed last September, officials said at a press conference this week. They have detected issues and corrected mistakes in more than half the cases, and 541 convictions were commuted.