London court absolves mother after AI use
London’s Court of Appeal has absolved a mother of any intention to mislead the court after her “erroneous” authority citation in a family-court case, according to the England-and-Wales Gazette.
The mother, who represented herself in a hearing, submitted a “lengthy” skeleton argument citing authorities – some of which were non-existent, while others were irrelevant.
An earlier document, in which the mother set out why the district judge in her case should recuse himself, included citations which “did not exist at all”, according to the judges.
In the appeal hearing, the mother “accepted that she has used artificial intelligence to assist her in preparing the document”.
AI use ‘entirely understandable’
According to the Gazette, Lord Justice Baker, with whom Lord Justice Cobb and Lord Justice Miles agreed, expressed sympathy for litigants in person, finding it “is entirely understandable” that they resorted to AI for help.
He added, however, that all parties, represented and unrepresented, “owe a duty to the court to ensure that cases cited in legal argument are genuine and provide authority for the proposition advanced”.
In D (a child) (recusal), the judge said: “I absolve the mother of any intention to mislead the court. Litigants in person are in a difficult position putting forward legal arguments.
“Used properly and responsibly, artificial intelligence can be of assistance to litigants and lawyers when preparing cases. But it is not an authoritative or infallible body of legal knowledge,” he added, referring to a growing number of reports of ‘hallucinations’ infecting legal arguments through the citation of incorrect or non-existent cases.
The judgment dealt with three appeals arising from applications for child arrangements and other orders and the father's appeal of a district judge's decision to recuse himself.