New York lawyer cites fake AI-generated court case

New York lawyer Jae Lee cited a fictitious case generated by ChatGPT to appeal a lawsuit, resulting in her facing possible sanctions.

Attorney Jae Lee was referred to the grievance panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals after she cited a fabricated case about a Queens doctor botching an abortion in an appeal to revive her client's lawsuit. 

The appeal was dismissed after it was discovered that the case did not exist and had been conjured up by OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot. The grievance panel concluded concluded Lae's conduct fell 'well below the basic obligations of counsel'. She now faces possible sanctions.

The incident was the one of several examples of lawyers misusing generative AI in legal cases, and prompted concern from lawyers and others that the technology is being used in the wrong way.