Indian Supreme Court Condemns Judge's Use of Fake AI-Generated Legal Orders

India's Supreme Court has expressed severe disapproval and threatened legal repercussions following an incident where a junior civil judge in Andhra Pradesh adjudicated a property dispute using four fake judgments generated by artificial intelligence. The Supreme Court, responding to an appeal, deemed the case a matter of 'institutional concern,' directly impacting the integrity of the adjudicatory process.

The incident originated in August of the previous year when the junior judge in Vijaywada city dismissed objections in a property case, citing precedents that were later discovered to be AI-generated. Generative AI systems are known for their propensity to 'hallucinate' or assert falsehoods as facts, sometimes even inventing sources, which was evident in this case.

Initially, the state's High Court acknowledged the fake citations but accepted the junior judge's error as made in 'good faith,' upholding the trial court's decision. The High Court emphasized the importance of 'actual intelligence over artificial intelligence' but did not overturn the ruling based solely on the non-existent citations, provided the legal principles applied were correct. The junior judge stated it was her first time using an AI tool and she believed the citations were genuine, attributing the mistake to reliance on an 'automatic source.'

However, the Supreme Court took a much sterner stance. Last Friday, it stayed the lower court's order, declaring that the use of AI in making judgments was not merely an 'error in decision making' but an act of 'misconduct.' The top court emphasized that the concern was not about the merits of the case, but the fundamental process of adjudication and determination. The Supreme Court has initiated a detailed examination, issuing notices to the Attorney and Solicitor General and the Bar Council of India. This incident follows previous concerns raised by the Supreme Court regarding lawyers using AI tools to draft petitions, highlighting a growing trend and the critical need for clear guidelines and ethical considerations in the legal application of AI.