Source: Fortune
Summary
Lawyers are increasingly using artificial intelligence to aid in legal work, but it’s not going well. There have been over 1,300 cases where courts have commented on AI-generated errors in legal filings. A lawyer in Alabama lost a case due to fabricated citations, and two lawyers in Oregon were sanctioned $110,000 for submitting false information. The use of general-purpose AI chatbots in law is particularly problematic, as they can generate text with confidence but no self-verification. The author, a lawyer and General Counsel of LexisNexis, argues that the key question is not which AI is most capable, but which AI can be trusted in a courtroom.
Our Reading
The announcement sounds familiar.
Lawyers are relying on AI to generate text, but it’s resulting in errors and sanctions. The numbers tell a story of mistrust in the courtroom. The American Bar Association has identified five Model Rules of Professional Conduct impacted by AI use. The use of general-purpose AI is particularly problematic, as it can’t verify the accuracy of its output. The author argues that the key question is not which AI is most capable, but which AI can be trusted in a courtroom. The cost of a wrong answer in law is paid in someone’s freedom, assets, or family’s future.
The strategy enters a familiar phase: lawyers are being forced to re-evaluate their reliance on AI-generated text.
Author: Evan Null
