- By Kathryn Armstrong
- BBC news
ChatGPT can use natural, human-like language to answer questions and mimic other writing styles
A New York attorney is facing a trial of her own after her firm used AI tool ChatGPT in legal investigations.
The judge said the court was facing an “unprecedented situation” after the filing was found to refer to a non-existent case.
A lawyer who used the tool told the court, “I didn’t know the content could be false.”
ChatGPT creates original text on request, with the caveat that it may “generate inaccurate information.”
In the first lawsuit, a man sued the airline for alleged personal injury. His legal team filed a brief citing several past court decisions to use precedent to demonstrate why the case should go forward.
However, the airline’s lawyers later wrote to the judge and said they were unable to locate some of the cases mentioned in the briefs.
“Six of the lawsuits filed appear to be false judicial rulings with false citations and false insider citations,” Castel said in the order, asking the men’s lawyers for clarification. .
After several submissions, it was discovered that the investigation was not prepared by the plaintiff’s attorney, Mr. Peter Loduca, but by a colleague at the same law firm. Steven A Schwartz, a practicing attorney for over 30 years, used ChatGPT to find similar cases in the past.
In a written statement, Schwartz clarified that Loduka was not involved in the study and had no knowledge of how it was conducted.
Schwartz added that he “extremely regrets” using the chatbot, saying he had never used it for legal investigations before and “didn’t know it could be false.” said.
In the future, he vowed never to use AI to “supplement” legal research “without absolute verification of its credibility.”
A screenshot attached to the filing appears to show a conversation between Schwartz and ChatGPT.
One message reads, “Is Varghese a real case?”, referring to Varghese v. China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd., one of the cases other lawyers were unable to locate.
ChatGPT responds “Yes, that’s right” and asks “S” “What is the source?”
After a “double check,” ChatGPT again responds that the case is genuine and can be found in legal reference databases such as LexisNexis and Westlaw.
Other cases provided to Mr. Schwartz are also authentic.
Both attorneys, who work for Lebidor, Levidor & Overman, have been ordered to explain why they should not be disciplined at a hearing on June 8.
ChatGPT has been used by millions since its launch in November 2022.
It can answer questions in natural, human-like language and can mimic other writing styles. As a database, the Internet is used as in 2021.
There are concerns about the potential risks of artificial intelligence (AI), such as the potential for spreading misinformation and bias.
