Lawyer fined $5K over AI-hallucinated witnesses in a murder case
New Mexico Supreme Court fined lawyer Stephen Aarons $5,000 for filing a murder appeal brief with ChatGPT-fabricated witnesses and testimony.
New Mexico's Supreme Court fined lawyer Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt for an appeal brief in a murder conviction case that contained AI-fabricated witnesses and false testimony about the shooter's clothing and appearance. Aarons admitted using ChatGPT and believing it would produce a bulletproof summary of the trial. Justice C. Shannon Bacon questioned how he could be unaware of AI hallucination risks, noting such cases are frequently in the news. The sanction follows other courts fining lawyers for AI-generated fake citations, including two law firms and Mike Lindell's legal team.
- New Mexico Supreme Court fined Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt over an AI-generated brief
- Brief contained fabricated witnesses and false testimony about the shooter's clothing
- Justice questioned how Aarons was unaware of AI hallucination risks
- Latest in a series of court sanctions for AI-fabricated citations and testimony
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- ChatGPT
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From the original article
2 min read at theverge.com
New Mexico's Supreme Court is punishing a lawyer for including AI-fabricated witnesses and fake police testimony in an appeal for his client's murder conviction, according to a report from Reuters. In a filing on Wednesday, the court fined Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt for failing to "verify the factual claims and legal authority in his AI-generated brief."
By Emma Roth · theverge.com
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