A New York attorney is facing criticism after utilizing ChatGPT for legal research in a lawsuit against Avianca Airlines, with the court deeming the provided quotes and citations as “bogus.”
Steven Schwartz, a lawyer from Levidow, Levidow & Oberman, was hired by Robert Mata to pursue an injury claim stemming from an incident involving a serving cart during a flight with the airline in 2019, as reported by CNN Business on May 28.
However, inconsistencies and factual errors in the case documentation caught the attention of the judge, leading Schwartz to admit, in a sworn affidavit on May 24, that he had used ChatGPT for his legal research. He claimed to be unaware of the potential for false information in its content, emphasizing that this was his first time using the tool.
The judge further pointed out that certain referenced cases did not exist, and there was a mix-up of docket numbers between court filings.
The integration of ChatGPT in professional settings has sparked an ongoing debate, considering its advancing intelligence levels. However, doubts remain among developers about its ability to fully replace human workers.
Syed Ghazanfer, a blockchain developer, expressed his preference for ChatGPT but remains skeptical about its communication skills being sufficient to entirely replace human counterparts. Ghazanfer highlighted that programming languages were invented to address the need for communicating complex requirements that native English may not adequately capture.
As the discussion continues, this incident serves as a cautionary tale, urging legal professionals to exercise diligence and critically evaluate the reliability of AI-generated information before utilizing it in legal proceedings.
