Judge sanctions lawyers for fake ChatGPT citations

In the US, a federal judge sanctioned lawyers for using fabricated legal precedents. The attorneys prepared court documents with ChatGPT but did not verify the sources. The citations turned out to be completely fake, and the court called it “an extreme form of recklessness.”

The case involved an inmate who was stabbed multiple times in prison. The judge removed the lawyers from the case and referred the matter to the state bar. This happened despite the firm having received over $40 million from the state.

The incident showed that AI can speed up work, but responsibility for errors still lies with humans