Attorneys
Schwartz explained that he used the groundbreaking program as he hunted for legal precedents supporting a client's case against the Colombian airline
The chatbot, which has fascinated the world with its production of essay-like answers to prompts from users, suggested several cases involving aviation mishaps that Schwartz hadn't been able to find through usual methods used at his law firm.
The problem was, several of those cases weren't real or involved airlines that didn’t exist.
Schwartz told U.S. District Judge
He said he “failed miserably” at doing follow-up research to ensure the citations were correct.
“I did not comprehend that ChatGPT could fabricate cases,” Schwartz said.
Microsoft has invested some
Its success, demonstrating how artificial intelligence could change the way humans work and learn, has generated fears from some. Hundreds of industry leaders signed a letter in May that warns “ mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”
The judge confronted Schwartz with one legal case invented by the computer program. It was initially described as a wrongful death case brought by a woman against an airline only to morph into a legal claim about a man who missed a flight to
“Can we agree that's legal gibberish?” Castel asked.
Schwartz said he erroneously thought that the confusing presentation resulted from excerpts being drawn from different parts of the case.
When Castel finished his questioning, he asked Schwartz if he had anything else to say.
“I would like to sincerely apologize,” Schwartz said.
He added that he had suffered personally and professionally as a result of the blunder and felt “embarrassed, humiliated and extremely remorseful.”
He said that he and the firm where he worked — Levidow, Levidow & Oberman — had put safeguards in place to ensure nothing similar happens again.
LoDuca, another lawyer who worked on the case, said he trusted Schwartz and didn't adequately review what he had compiled.
After the judge read aloud portions of one cited case to show how easily it was to discern that it was “gibberish,” LoDuca said: “It never dawned on me that this was a bogus case.”
He said the outcome “pains me to no end.”
He said lawyers have historically had a hard time with technology, particularly new technology, “and it's not getting easier.”
“Mr. Schwartz, someone who barely does federal research, chose to use this new technology. He thought he was dealing with a standard search engine," Minkoff said. "What he was doing was playing with live ammo.”
He said the subject drew shock and befuddlement at the conference.
“We’re talking about the
He said the case demonstrated how the lawyers might not have understood how ChatGPT works because it tends to hallucinate, talking about fictional things in a manner that sounds realistic but is not.
“It highlights the dangers of using promising AI technologies without knowing the risks,” Shin said.
The judge said he'll rule on sanctions at a later date.
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