US lawyer sorry after ChatGPT creates fake cases for court filing
- US lawyer Steven Schwartz used ChatGPT to help in court filing after his college-educated children introduced him to it
- OpenAI chatbot invented six cases Schwartz cited in a brief in a case against Colombian airline Avianca
What happened when a US lawyer used ChatGPT to prepare a court filing? The artificial intelligence program invented fake cases and rulings, leaving the lawyer rather red-faced.
New York-based lawyer Steven Schwartz apologised to a judge this week for submitting a brief full of falsehoods generated by the OpenAI chatbot.
“I simply had no idea that ChatGPT was capable of fabricating entire case citations or judicial opinions, especially in a manner that appeared authentic,” Schwartz wrote in a court filing.
The blunder occurred in a civil case being heard by Manhattan federal court involving a man who is suing the Colombian airline Avianca.
Roberto Mata claims he was injured when a metal serving plate hit his leg during a flight in August 2019 from El Salvador to New York.
After the airline’s lawyers asked the court to dismiss the case, Schwartz filed a response that claimed to cite more than half a dozen decisions to support why the litigation should proceed.