Today’s New York Times has a story written by Benjamin Weiser which seems somehow indicative of our times – a lawyer who used ChatGPT to help write his legal brief has been found out by opposing counsel and the judge hearing his case.
There was just one hitch: No one — not the airline’s lawyers, not even the judge himself — could find the decisions or the quotations cited and summarized in the brief.
That was because ChatGPT had invented everything.
New York Times, “Here’s What Happens When Your Lawyer Uses ChatGPT” – published May 27, 2023
Oops. I suspect there may be an unfortunate response by the courts – please certify your authorship of legal briefs and that you did not use AI-based tools to assist in preparing the brief.
Here’s perhaps an appropriate haiku generated by Google Bard:
The pen scratches paper
The words flow like a river of truth
The judge will decide.
Indeed. The judge will decide…
Judge Castel said in an order that he had been presented with “an unprecedented circumstance,” a legal submission replete with “bogus judicial decisions, with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations.” He ordered a hearing for June 8 to discuss potential sanctions.
New York Times, “Here’s What Happens When Your Lawyer Uses ChatGPT” – published May 27, 2023