Extract from Isha Marathe’s article “4 Generative AI Issues That Are Likely Keeping Judges Up at Night”
Few technological innovations have so rapidly brought the judicial bench to high alert as generative artificial intelligence.
So far, while the technology has its benefits, it also causes headaches in the courtroom. Recently, a New York attorney sent shockwaves through the legal world by submitting to court a ChatGPT-generated brief, rife with fabricated case citations, and subsequently got slapped with a $5,000 fine. Only months later, another attorney repeated the mistake, using ChatGPT to write an ex-parte filing, full of erroneous citations.
Judges have begun preparing for this technology in various ways, from issuing standing orders around the use of generative AI and educating themselves, to exploring hiring AI experts.
A judges’ panel hosted by the Practising Law Institute titled “Generative AI and Judges: How Are They Getting Along?” and moderated by Ron Hedges, a retired U.S. magistrate judge for the District of New Jersey and the principal at Ronald J. Hedges, discussed some key concerns those from the bench have when it comes to generative AI.
