this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2025
729 points (99.2% liked)

Technology

63750 readers
4024 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

But the explanation and Ramirez’s promise to educate himself on the use of AI wasn’t enough, and the judge chided him for not doing his research before filing. “It is abundantly clear that Mr. Ramirez did not make the requisite reasonable inquiry into the law. Had he expended even minimal effort to do so, he would have discovered that the AI-generated cases do not exist. That the AI-generated excerpts appeared valid to Mr. Ramirez does not relieve him of his duty to conduct a reasonable inquiry,” Judge Dinsmore continued, before recommending that Ramirez be sanctioned for $15,000.

Falling victim to this a year or more after the first guy made headlines for the same is just stupidity.

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 20 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (7 children)

The judge wrote that he “does not aim to suggest that AI is inherently bad or that its use by lawyers should be forbidden,” and noted that he’s a vocal advocate for the use of technology in the legal profession. “Nevertheless, much like a chain saw or other useful [but] potentially dangerous tools, one must understand the tools they are using and use those tools with caution,” he wrote. “It should go without saying that any use of artificial intelligence must be consistent with counsel's ethical and professional obligations. In other words, the use of artificial intelligence must be accompanied by the application of actual intelligence in its execution.” 

I won't even go that far. I can very much believe that you can build an AI capable of doing perfectly-reasonable legal arguments. Might be using technology that looks a lot different from what we have today, but whatever.

The problem is that the lawyer just started using a new technology to produce material that he didn't even validate, without determining whether-or-not it actually worked for what he wanted to do in its current state, and where there was clearly available material showing that it was not in that state.

It's as if a shipbuilder started using random new substance in its ship hull without actually conducting serious tests on it or even looking at consensus in the shipbuilding industry as to whether the material could fill that role. Meanwhile, the substance is slowly dissolving in water. Just slapped it in the hull and sold it to the customer.

EDIT: Hmm. Actually, I thought that the judge was saying that the lawyer needed to use AI-generated stuff in a human-guided role, but upon consideration, I may in fact be violently agreeing with the judge. "Actual intelligence" may simply refer to what I'm saying that the lawyer should have done.

[–] dhork 17 points 19 hours ago

But this is exactly what AI is being marketed toward. All of Apple's AI ads showcase dumb people who appear smart because the AI bails out their ineptitude.

[–] ilinamorato 9 points 18 hours ago

I've been saying this for ages. Even as someone who's more-or-less against the current implementation of AI, I think people who truly believe in AI should be fighting the hardest against bad uses of it. It gives AI a worse black eye every time something like this happens.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 18 hours ago

Why would one even get the idea to use AI for something like this?

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe."

[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart 5 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

All you do is a quick search on the case to see if it's real or not.

They bill enough each hour to get some interns to do this all day.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I'm pretty sure that just doing "quick searches" is exactly how he ended up with AI answers to begin with.

[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart 4 points 16 hours ago

I don't think PACER or the state equivalents use AI summary tools yet.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›