When using Al goes wrong: Judge slams lawyers for legal bungle

FACED with non-existent legal citations in a matter before the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, an acting judge asked counsel responsible for it whether the citations constituted artificial intelligence (AI) "hallucinations," to which the red-faced advocate confirmed that "it appears to be so.

- ZELDA VENTER

Acting Judge DJ Smit made this discovery when he was about to write his judgment in a matter of Northbound Processing, which wanted to compel the South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator to release a refining licence to it.

Judge Smit remarked that while drafting this judgment, it came to his attention that two cases cited in Northbound's heads of argument do not exist. He invited Northbound's counsel to clarify the position.