Two New York lawyers have been sanctioned by a US judge after including in a court document six quotes with false information generated by the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, CNBC reports. Steven Schwartz and Peter LoDuca were ordered to pay a $5,000 fine due to their conduct deemed “bad faith” by Judge Kevin Castel, who said their actions involved “acts of conscious evasion” and “misleading statements to the court.”
Judge Castel noted that both attorneys “abandoned their responsibilities” by filing the document drafted with the help of AI in his client’s lawsuit against Avianca Airlines in March. While he acknowledged that the use of AI is not generally inappropriate, he emphasized that lawyers must ensure that they maintain control and ensure the accuracy of their documents.
Castel explained that in researching and drafting court briefs, lawyers often get help from junior lawyers, law students, contract researchers, and legal databases such as Westlaw and LexisNexis. While he acknowledged that technological advances are commonplace and that the use of a reliable artificial intelligence tool for assistance is not inherently wrong, he concluded that there are rules that impose a responsibility on attorneys to exercise control to ensure the accuracy of their documents.
Judge Castel’s decision highlights the importance of lawyers exercising diligent control over information generated by AI tools and maintaining the integrity and veracity of documents filed with the courts.