ChatGPT invented case citations in Avianca court case

Several cases cited in a legal filing against Colombian airline Avianca were "hallucinated" by ChatGPT, resulting in ridicule for the lawyer bringing the case. According to the New York Times, Avianca customer Roberto Mata sued the airline after a serving cart injured his knee during a flight, only for his lawyer, Steven Schwartz of Levidow, Levidow & Oberman, to use ChatGPT to 'supplement his own findings. The bot returned six legal cases, including 'Varghese v. China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd', all of which it claimed were real but turned out to be fake. Schwartz later said he was 'unaware of the possibility that [ChatGPT's] content could be false.' The judge ordered (pdf) another hearing to 'discuss potential sanctions' for Schwartz in response to this 'unprecedented circumstance', and decided to fine the two lawyers USD 5,000. The incident resulted in questions about the accuracy and marketing of the OpenAI system, and was seem to make the lawyer and his employers appear unprofessional and out of touch. Hallucination (artificial intelligence) In the field of artificial intelligence (AI), a hallucination or artificial hallucination (also called bullshitting, confabulation or delusion) is a response generated by AI that contains false or misleading information presented as fact . Source: Wikipedia 🔗 System 🤖 ChatGPT O perator: OpenAI; Levidow, Levidow & Oberman Developer: OpenAI Country: USA Sector: Business/professional services Purpose: Provide information, communicate Technology: Chatbot; Generative AI; Machine learning Issue: Accuracy/reliability; Anthropomorphism; Mis/disinformation

Date it happened

2023-05-01

Organisation involved

Open AI; Levidow, Levidow & Oberman

Product, system or model

ChatGPT

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.