A search with ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI)chatbot, was intended to facilitate the work of a team of lawyers and find supplementary case examples for their arguments in a dispute before the High Court in Pietermaritzburg, in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal.

The AI tool did just that, and the legal representatives submitted a notice of appeal in which they cited several authorities and case studies highlighted by the tool.

But when the judge conducted an independent search using ChatGPT to verify one of the citations, he found to his utter amazement that many of the cited cases were not included in any recognized legal database.

The court ultimately ruled against the plaintiff, stating in the written judgment: "The court has gained the impression that the lawyers placed false trust in the veracity of AI-generated legal research and, out of laziness, failed to check this research."

Tayla Pinto, a lawyer specializing in AI, data protection and IT law in Cape Town, sees a growing threat to the profession.

"When asked how this happened and where the citations came from, the legal counsel admitted to using generative AI," Pinto told DW. "This shows that the problem of lawyers not knowing how to use generative AI responsibly and ethically is growing."

According to Pinto, there are three cases in South Africa in which the legal advisers involved used AI to create their court documents. In June, there was a similar misapplication of AI in the case brought by mining company Northbound Processing against the South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulatory Authority.

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