Law firms work to rein in wayward AI

Worried by instances of artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT throwing up fictitious cases and results, Indian law firms have started restricting AI usage internally.

- Krishna Yadav, Shouvik Das & Devina Sengupta

Since we do not yet have a formal policy in place, we are cautious about allowing AI use for drafting any legal documents or advice," said Probir Roy Chowdhury, partner at JSA Advocates & Solicitors and an adviser to leading technology companies.

"We anticipated that younger attorneys, who are already using AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini in their daily lives, would naturally start using them for work," Chowdhury said. "Hence, partners were instructed to speak to their teams individually about dos and don'ts regarding AI use."

Law firms are seeking to reassure clients as AI tools have been known to generate fictitious results. In March, a civil judge in Karnataka cited three non-existent rulings in a case involving Sammaan Capital and Mantri Developers the high court called it "disturbing" and referred the matter to the chief justice on suspicion pointing to AI tools like ChatGPT.