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| Marcel Strigberger |
These defects include but are not limited to misquotes of cited cases; misrepresentations of principles of law associated with cited cases, including discussions of legal principles that simply do not appear within such decisions; and most egregiously, citation of cases that do not exist.
I wonder who is responsible for AI’s content. Disclaimer. I am a nuclear technophobe. A born-again Luddite. I thought the world had all the technology it would ever need after the arrival of the sticky note. Full stop.
Having said that, I feel I am as ignorant as most of us as to what is under the hood of the AI demon. Here are my thoughts:
1. British trolls
I say British because legal cases with Brit names look very convincing. Fewer folks will question their veracity. For example, I think of the iconic contract case, Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. What lawyer would suspect AI hanky-panky getting a suggestion with a case reference such Salisbury v. Carbolic Pickle Ball? Fresh out of the 8th District Court of Lower Florida. You’ve been warned.
Or these trolls might come up with bogus cases the authenticity of which not even the late Lord Denning would have challenged. The Brits love couplet names such as Marks & Spencer or Fortnum & Mason. I can see a majority of our bar naively sprinkling their appeal factums with jurisprudence such as Winchester v. Billington & Beamish Tea Company. Or Mulligan & Newton Sweets. Might even fool some Canadian judges.
Names of English cities would also be easy bait for these AI trolls. Were I still in practice, I’d have no hesitation relying on a citation of a case called Corporation of Nottingham, or the City Council of Stonehenge, or Arsenal. I mention Arsenal as the name always appears in the sports news. Apparently this place has a popular soccer team, (pardon me, a football team), which by the way never wins a game. The broadcaster usually announces something like Manchester 3, Arsenal nil; Plymouth 1, Arsenal nil; Kent United nil, Arsenal nil. Somehow Arsenal still loses even this latter one. But I digress.
2. Witches and sorcerers
Another source for AI mess in my view is witchcraft. Yes witchcraft, as in double, double toil and trouble. As the lion said in The Wizard of Oz, “I do believe in spooks.”
I Googled “AI info sources” and one display popped up reading, “AI, Chat Chez Maleficent, sale on brooms on until Wednesday.” OK, I also included the word “Salem.”
What I am saying is there must be something paranormal about AI. And heaven help us if these witches are British.
3. Aliens
There has been chatter recently about alien sightings. Can anybody prove they don’t exist? We all know that there does not appear to be life on Mars. That Land Rover certainly did not do a selfie with some green guy sporting a moustache, two ears and three noses.
But what if there are aliens out there who are highly intelligent and who have the means for manipulating earthling AI systems. And what if some of them are here already living among us? Where? My best guess would be at some Airbnbs. I would ask the company to carefully vet its potential guests, especially being on the lookout for anyone wearing a tuque with an antenna sticking out. Or a guy with a face looking like an avocado. Or even for anybody called Marvin. Who knows?
So what is the deal with AI? British trolls? Witches? Aliens? My guess is as good as yours. One thing I will not do is not ask ChatGPT.
Marcel Strigberger retired from his Greater Toronto Area litigation practice and continues the more serious business of humorous author and speaker. His book, Boomers, Zoomers, and Other Oomers: A Boomer-biased Irreverent Perspective on Aging, is available on Amazon (e-book) and in paper version. His new(!) book First, Let’s Kill the Lawyer Jokes: An Attorney’s Irreverent Serious Look at the Legal Universe is available on Amazon, Apple and other book places. Visit www.marcelshumour.com. Follow him on X: @MarcelsHumour.
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