South African attorneys were criticised on Thursday for allegedly using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate court documents that contained fake legal citations.
When Judge Elsja-Marie Bezuidenhout of the Pietermaritzburg High Court reviewed arguments made by Surendra Singh and Associates, representing politician Godfrey Mvundla, the debate broke out.
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The controversy unfolds
Judge Bezuidenhout discovered that only two of the nine cited cases were legitimate, and one citation was incorrect.
She stated, “While the real source of the authorities quoted remains unknown, it was likely that the firm had relied on AI technology, which was irresponsible and downright unprofessional”.
The judge referred the matter to the Legal Practice Council for further investigation.
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Implications for legal practice
The incident raises concerns about the increasing reliance on AI in legal settings. S Pillay, a Surendra Singh and Associates lawyer, admitted her clerk sourced references under pressure without verifying their accuracy.
The judge emphasised the need for greater diligence in legal practices, highlighting that “blindly relying on authorities provided to her by a clerk without checking the references” is unacceptable.
This case raises concerns about integrating AI into legal systems without control.