Licensing and questions regarding accountability
AI systems, unlike trained attorneys, do not have to acquire a license to practice law and therefore will not be subject to ethical standards and professional codes of conduct. If an AI system provides inaccurate or misleading legal advice, who will be responsible/accountable for it? The developer or the user?
The usage of Ai in the judiciary also poses a problem even if judges retain ultimate decision-making authority. It is not uncommon to become overly reliant on technology-based recommendation due to automated bias.
As per a recent news report, a New York lawyer used ChatGPT for legal research and included six case citations in a brief filed with the court. However, opposing counsel could not find any of the cases, and the lawyer had to admit that he didn’t independently confirm their legitimacy. The judge imposed sanctions on the concerned lawyers and their law firm was fined to pay $5,000 in total. Therefore, lawyers should be cautious when using generative AI for legal research.
Source: Barandbench
