Lawyer’s AI-Generated Courtroom Drama: What Happened When ChatGPT Tried to Take the Stand?

ChatGPT has been the subject of much discussion for most of the past year and will continue to be discussed in 2023, thanks to rapid developments in the field of generative artificial intelligence.

Additionally, using bots like ChatGPT and Google Bard has become a straightforward process. If you are an age-appropriate user, by signing in you can easily start using these AI apps. However, the question arises – should they be used to simplify work or to meet deadlines? Well, considering the case of Zachariah Crabill, the answer should be no, but it deserves a discussion.

Business Insider reports Crabill is a 29-year-old attorney who was fired after using ChatGPT while working at Baker Law Group in Colorado, United States. Why would a lawyer now consider it necessary to use ChatGPT?

Simply put, Crabill says she was stressed out by looming deadlines and mounting stress when her bosses gave her a lot of work in May. And to cope with the increased pressure, he turned to ChatGPT as a research tool. And in one case, he asked it to support a show he was writing.

“When ChatGPT saved me hours of work, it was a little ray of sunshine in an otherwise insane situation,” Crabill told Insider. He added: “My experience is not unique; unfortunately, I have heard many lawyers say that they too were ‘thrown to the wolves’ early in their careers.”

ChatGPT was able to complete his application, and his boss eventually approved it for submission to the Colorado court. However, in doing so, the young lawyer forgot to check ChatGPT’s response and thus things turned sour. The chatbot ended up creating fictitious lawsuits, which of course got him fired.

In the end, he told the judge he had used an AI chatbot to confirm the presentation document.

However, Crabill still believes in the capabilities of generative AI and that AI can make lawyers more productive. In fact, he has opened his own company that provides legal services using artificial intelligence. In addition, he says that ChatGPT is the equivalent of Google for him, and he uses it every day for his “work”.