California has imposed a $10,000 fine on attorney Amir Mostafavi for submitting an appeal filled with fake quotations from ChatGPT. The court’s opinion highlighted that 21 out of 23 cited cases were fabricated. This is the largest fine issued for AI-related misconduct in the state. The ruling serves as a warning to legal professionals about the dangers of relying on generative AI without verification.
The opinion, issued 10 days ago in California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal, is a clear example of why the state’s legal authorities are scrambling to regulate the use of AI in the judiciary. The state’s Judicial Council two weeks ago issued guidelines requiring judges and court staff to either ban generative AI or adopt a generative AI use policy by Dec. 15. Meanwhile, the California Bar Association is considering whether to strengthen its code of conduct to account for various forms of AI following a request by the California Supreme Court last month.
The Los Angeles-area attorney fined last week, Amir Mostafavi, told the court that he did not read text generated by the AI model before submitting the appeal in July 2023, months after OpenAI marketed ChatGPT as capable of passing the bar exam. A three-judge panel fined him for filing a frivolous appeal, violating court rules, citing fake cases, and wasting the court’s time and the taxpayers money, according to the opinion. Mostafavi told CalMatters he wrote the appeal and then used ChatGPT to try and improve it. He said that he didn’t know it would add case citations or make things up.
Legal experts have expressed concern over the increasing reliance on AI tools in legal work, emphasizing the need for strict verification processes. The California Bar Association is currently evaluating whether to update its code of conduct to include provisions for AI-generated content, as requested by the California Supreme Court. This case underscores the broader challenge of balancing technological advancement with the integrity of the legal process.