Lawyers arguing a case at the Johannesburg regional court have been called out in a judgement for using fake references generated by ChatGPT.
“The names and citations are fictitious, the facts are fictitious, and the decisions are fictitious,” said the judgement.
According to the Sunday Times, the judgement also delivered the lawyers’ client with a punitive costs order.
“When it comes to legal research, the efficiency of modern technology still needs to be infused with a dose of good old-fashioned independent reading,” said Magistrate Arvin Chaitram of the situation.
