A New York lawyer has been forced to admit that he has used an artificial intelligence (AI) tool, known as ChatGPT, to carry out research for a legal brief presented to the Manhattan federal court. The brief, submitted in March by Steven Schwartz on behalf of Roberto Mata, argued why his client’s case should not be thrown out due to the statute of limitations.
The legal brief submitted to the court cited six previous cases ranging from 1999 to 2019 to bolster Mr. Mata’s argument. However Judge P Kevin Castel could not find the decisions or quotes mentioned in the brief. The lawyers were asked to provide copies of the opinions in question, but they were all connected to different cases.
The AI tool that Schmidt used is called ChatGPT and is developed by Silicon Valley scientists at OpenAI. Its purpose is to mimic human conversation and language and to answer questions and provide solutions based on its vast knowledge base. ChatGPT has proven to be unreliable, as evidenced in screenshots of its conversation with Schmidt where it responded positively when asked if the cases referenced in the brief were real.
Schmidt has since admitted his mistake in an affidavit filed on Thursday and has vowed not to use ChatGPT in any future research without verifying its authenticity. Judge Castel has ordered a hearing for the 8th of June to discuss possible sanctions.
Levidow, Levidow and Oberman, who represents passenger Roberto Mata, is one of the largest and oldest corporate and commercial law firms in the United States. The firm has a stellar reputation and provides sophisticated legal counsel to clients in a wide range of complex and sensitive matters.
Steven Schwartz is the team’s lawyer. He is an experienced attorney who has a long successful history of working to obtain favorable outcomes for his clients. He is dedicated to providing thorough and innovative legal advice and strives to achieve the best results possible for those he represents.
