Michael Cohen, former lawyer for Donald Trump, admitted to inadvertently relying on the AI chatbot Google Bard for legal citations, leading to a controversy surrounding the accuracy of the information presented in court documents.
Legal Citations Source: Cohen confessed to mistakenly considering Google Bard as a "supercharged search engine" rather than a generative AI service. He sent Google Bard-generated legal citations to his attorney, David Schwartz, in support of his case against Trump.
Cohen's Understanding: In a court filing, Cohen clarified, "The invalid citations at issue... were produced by Google Bard, which Mr. Cohen misunderstood to be a supercharged search engine, not a generative AI service like Chat-GPT."
Cohen's Legal Status: It was argued that Cohen, not an active legal professional, lacked the awareness of the risks associated with using AI services for legal research. The statement emphasized, "Mr. Cohen is not a practicing attorney and has no concept of the risks of using AI services for legal research, nor does he have an ethical obligation to verify the accuracy of his research."
Review Negligence: Despite Cohen's role as an information provider rather than a legal expert, criticism emerged regarding the lack of review before incorporating AI-generated information into official court documents. The statement highlighted that further review was necessary, stating, "Mr. Cohen provided Mr. Schwartz with citations (and case summaries) he had found online and believed to be real. Mr. Schwartz added them to the motion but failed to check those citations or summaries."
Similar Instances: This incident is not isolated, as earlier this year, another lawyer, Steven Schwartz, faced criticism for using AI in legal research, resulting in false court citations. The judge in that case strongly criticized the inaccuracies, stating, "Six of the submitted cases appear to be bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations."
Conclusion: The controversy surrounding Michael Cohen's use of AI-generated legal citations highlights the potential pitfalls when relying on AI for legal research. Legal professionals are urged to exercise caution and conduct thorough reviews to ensure the accuracy of information included in official documents.
