Misuse of AI risks harming public confidence in the justice system
The risks of relying on artificial intelligence for research, without verifying the results, should by now be clear to all, almost three years after the groundbreaking launch of ChatGPT.
Lawyers using generative AI tools to prepare material for court should be setting a shining example. But judges around the world, from Britain to the US, Canada and Australia, continue to be presented with arguments based on non-existent court judgments generated by AI. More needs to be done to prevent such abuses.
Hong Kong is not immune to the problem. Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok used a ceremony for three new senior counsel to sound a warning last weekend.
He said the city's legal profession faced the challenge of adopting new technology without compromising integrity. Lam then quoted from a UK court judgment delivered the previous day.
The court had warned that AI tools are 'not capable of conducting reliable legal research'.
Dame Victoria Sharp, one of two judges ruling in the case of Ayinde, pointed out that AI's 'apparently coherent and plausible responses' may be entirely incorrect or simply untrue.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
39 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Xia Baolong holds 3-hour closed-door talks with Hong Kong business leaders
Beijing's top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs held a three-hour closed-door discussion with local tycoons and business leaders on the third day of his inspection trip to the city on Friday. Advertisement Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, also visited Ocean Park in the afternoon before taking a boat trip to Lamma Island. The exchanges on Friday morning, held at the government headquarters in Admiralty, marked the first time since last November that Xia had direct talks with local business elites in Shenzhen. Tycoons at the meeting included Peter Lee Ka-kit, chairman and managing director of Henderson Land Development; Gordon Wu Ying-sheung, chairman of Hopewell Holdings; Stephen Ng Tin-hoi, chairman and managing director of the Wharf Holdings; and Sonia Cheng Chi-man, executive director of New World Development. Wingco Lo Kam-wing, president of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong, and Jonathan Choi Koon-shum, chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, were also among those seen streaming into the venue. Xia Baolong meets the city's tycoons and other business leaders at government headquarters. Photo: Handout Financial sector heavyweights, including Carlson Tong Ka-shing, chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, and Haywood Cheung Tak-hay, chairman of the Hong Kong Gold Exchange, also showed up.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
UK lawmakers back assisted dying law in historic move
Britain took a historic step towards allowing euthanasia on Friday when MPs backed contentious legislation that would introduce assisted dying for terminally ill people. Lawmakers in the lower House of Commons chamber voted 314 in favour to 291 to send the proposal to the upper House of Lords for further scrutiny following four hours of emotional debate. The outcome sparked celebrations among supporters gathered outside parliament who say legalised euthanasia will give people with an incurable illness dignity and choice at the end of their lives. But opponents attending a neighbouring counter-protest said they feared vulnerable people could be coerced into dying and urged lawmakers to focus on improving palliative care instead. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would allow assisted suicide in England and Wales for adults who have been given less than six months to live. They would have to be able to administer the life-ending substance themselves, and any patient's wish to die would have to be signed off by two doctors and a panel of experts.
The Standard
2 hours ago
- The Standard
Wall St indexes open higher with Trump's Middle East decision in focus
Hong Kong stocks edged up on Friday in hopes of US intervention in the Israel-Iran war.
