Portuguese Judge Disciplined for Using AI to Draft Court Ruling with Fabricated Legal References

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The Portuguese Superior Council of the Judiciary opened a disciplinary process against judges from the Lisbon Court of Appeal for allegedly using ChatGPT to draft a court ruling. The AI-generated decision contained fabricated laws and jurisprudence, undermining the legal process and prompting complaints from defense lawyers.[AI generated]

Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?

The article explicitly mentions the use of ChatGPT, an AI system, in drafting a judicial decision. The suspected AI involvement has led to an investigation due to irregularities and errors in the legal text, which could undermine the legal process and the rights of the parties involved. This constitutes an AI Incident because the AI system's use has directly led to potential harm to legal rights and the integrity of judicial decisions, fitting the definition of violations of human rights or breach of legal obligations.[AI generated]
AI principles
AccountabilityFairnessTransparency & explainabilityRobustness & digital securityRespect of human rightsDemocracy & human autonomy
Industries
Government, security, and defence
Affected stakeholders
General public
Harm types
ReputationalPublic interestHuman or fundamental rights
Severity
AI incident
AI system task:
Content generation

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