Lawyers face sanctions for citing fake cases with AI, warns UK judge
LONDON (Reuters) -Lawyers who use artificial intelligence to cite non-existent cases can be held in contempt of court or even face criminal charges, London's High Court warned on Friday, in the latest example of generative AI leading lawyers astray.
A senior judge lambasted lawyers in two cases who apparently used AI tools when preparing written arguments, which referred to fake case law, and called on regulators and industry leaders to ensure lawyers know their ethical obligations.
"There are serious implications for the administration of justice and public confidence in the justice system if artificial intelligence is misused," Judge Victoria Sharp said in a written ruling.
"In those circumstances, practical and effective measures must now be taken by those within the legal profession with individual leadership responsibilities ... and by those with the responsibility for regulating the provision of legal services."
The ruling comes after lawyers around the world have been forced to explain themselves for relying on false authorities, since ChatGPT and other generative AI tools became widely available more than two years ago.
Sharp warned in her ruling that lawyers who refer to non-existent cases will be in breach of their duty to not mislead the court, which could also amount to contempt of court.
She added that "in the most egregious cases, deliberately placing false material before the court with the intention of interfering with the administration of justice amounts to the common law criminal offence of perverting the course of justice".
Sharp noted that legal regulators and the judiciary had issued guidance about the use of AI by lawyers, but said that "guidance on its own is insufficient to address the misuse of artificial intelligence".
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
40 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump is Helping China in the AI Race. Why?
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Nvidia has ordered 300,000 new top-line computer chips from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) following a huge boost in demand from China. The agreement over the H20 chipsets, which are some of the most advanced technology being produced in Taiwan's industry-leading factories, comes in the same month that Trump reversed a ban that stopped Nvidia from selling to China over security concerns. Newsweek contacted the Chinese Embassy and the White House for comment on this story via email. Why It Matters The January launch of DeepSeek, a Chinese-made AI model, , sparked what may have called a "cold war" over artificial intelligence development. Researchers developed DeepSeek with a fraction of the resources but managed to produce an AI capable of rivaling ChatGPT. In April, the Trump administration barred top U.S. suppliers, like Nvidia, from selling topline silicon to China over "national security concerns." The ban mirrored the 2022 CHIPS Act passed by former President Joe Biden, which increased semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. while also clamping down on chip companies investing in China and Russia, the biggest competitors in the industry. What To Know The White House reversed its ban after barely three months, giving Nvidia the all-clear in July to resume sales with China. Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang on July 14 said the U.S. government had assured him it would restore the licenses to sell H20s in China. "General-purpose, open-source research and foundation models are the backbone of AI innovation," Huang said. "We believe that every civil model should run best on the U.S. technology stack, encouraging nations worldwide to choose America." Half a month later, and Chinese demand for Nvidia chips has surged, with the U.S. company looking to replenish its stock with an order of 300,000 H20 chipsets from TSMC, one of the largest manufacturers in the world. US President Donald Trump shakes hand with China's President Xi Jinping at the end of a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. US President Donald Trump shakes hand with China's President Xi Jinping at the end of a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. Getty Images The return of Nvidia chips to the Chinese market will be a boon to the country's rapidly expanding AI industry, but there's concern that the U.S. could fall behind in an AI "race", as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman describes it, using U.S. chips to do so. In May, a report from the Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology shared with Newsweek found that two of China's leading AI institutes, headquartered in Beijing, have established branches in Wuhan to cooperate on sophisticated alternatives to the large generative AI models. The report described the new labs' aim to "springboard to artificial general intelligence", overtaking the U.S. by focusing on other forms of AI as opposed to the western focus on large statistical models. What People Are Saying Alexandra Mousavizadeh, CEO of Evident and creator of the Global AI Index, told Newsweek that there were two different approaches to China's AI development: "You can continue to try and contain access to chips and close the walls off. While you're doing that, you're doubling down on investment into data infrastructure, supporting the development of AI in the U.S. and being first in that race, "Or you open up completely and you say, 'Look, it's to the benefit of all that everyone has access to everything, because the collaboration between Europe, the U.S. and China in the past has been what has led to the ability to get to where we are today.' A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy told Newsweek: "China has consistently advocated that the development of artificial intelligence should adhere to principles that are human-centered and promote benevolence. "China believes that AI development should be fair and inclusive, ensuring that all countries equally enjoy the benefits brought by AI, and has no intention of seeking dominance in this field." What Happens Next China will continue to be able to purchase from Nvidia and other U.S. chip manufacturers unless the White House alters its policy.
Engadget
2 hours ago
- Engadget
Apple reportedly has a 'stripped-down' AI chatbot to compete with ChatGPT in the works
Apple has fallen far behind in the competitive market of AI-powered chatbots, but it may have a plan for an in-house option that aligns with the company's "not first, but best" philosophy. According to Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman, Apple created a team called "Answers, Knowledge and Information" earlier this year that's tasked with developing a "stripped-down rival to ChatGPT." Forming this team represents a major change in direction from Apple's earlier stance on artificial intelligence when the company partnered with OpenAI in 2024 to infuse Siri with ChatGPT instead of developing its own AI chatbot. Now, Gurman reported that this new Apple team will instead develop in-house AI services for a "new ChatGPT-like search experience" that can crawl the web to respond to questions. These new capabilities could be a standalone app, as well as support AI capabilities for Apple's Siri, Spotlight and Safari, according to Gurman's sources. The team is reportedly led by Robby Walker, who previously oversaw Siri, and has been advertising job openings that mention wanting experience with search algorithms and engine development. Beyond the Answers, Knowledge and Information team, Apple has experienced some growing pains when it comes to artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, the company said it would delay the release of the new-and-improved Siri, adding only that it would roll out "in the coming year." However, Apple is aware of the need to accelerate its Apple Intelligence program to stay competitive. In the latest third-quarter earnings call, the company's CEO Tim Cook said that Apple is open to acquisitions to fast-track its AI roadmap.
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Forbes
How Generative AI Is Changing The Way We Work
Think back just a few years. AI in the workplace wasn't always that exciting. It was frustrating. Chatbots missed the mark more often than they helped. AI writing assistants sounded robotic, stiff, and very generic. Transcription tools? Maybe 70% accurate on a good day, which made them more hassle than help. Instead of making work easier, AI often felt like one more thing to manage. It was more novelty than necessity. But things are changing fast. Generative AI has gone from a futuristic buzzword to something much more practical and powerful. It's now sitting beside us in meetings, drafting our emails, organizing our thoughts, and even helping us solve problems we didn't know how to articulate. This isn't just smarter software, it's a new kind of teammate. We're not just using tools. We're collaborating with them. Whether it's ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, Perplexity, or internal LLMs customized for specific teams, generative AI isn't sitting on the bench anymore. It's helping draft proposals, untangle data, write code, analyze reports, and act as a collaboration partner to spark new ideas. And it's doing all of this without needing a lunch break, vacation time, or sleep. The pace of change is fast with AI. The impact? Even faster. And we're only just getting started. AI at Work: From Mundane Tasks to Transformation This AI transformation is no longer theoretical. Generative AI is already baked into how teams across industries get things done. As I always say, everyone is at a different point in their AI journey, but forward thinking individuals and organizations are already seeing tangible benefits from Generative AI. In marketing, it's helping create campaigns faster than ever. Think instant content generation, headline testing, SEO optimization, and rewriting blog posts when they fall flat or need a different tone. Finance teams are using AI to make sense of messy numbers. Forecasts, reports, and budget variance explanations are all generated in natural language, not spreadsheet formulas. AI-powered tools are helping teams spot trends, flag anomalies, and communicate insights clearly. Customer service is getting a long-overdue upgrade too. AI now drafts personalized email responses in seconds, summarizes multi-threaded conversations into a single digestible ticket, and routes high-priority issues to the right human agent in seconds. It can detect customer sentiment, recommend next-best actions, and even auto-generate knowledge base articles and documentation from resolved tickets. By layering AI into the tools that customer service agents already use, the role is evolving from a reactive support channel into a proactive, intelligent experience. Rethinking Roles in the Age of AI AI isn't just slotting into workflows, it's reshaping them. And with this change, roles are shifting in ways that are both subtle and significant. Tedious admin work? Automated. The kind of tasks that used to eat up your mornings such as calendar updates, inbox triage, or basic data entry are now handled by AI in seconds. That time can now get reinvested in what actually matters: thinking, deciding, creating. Knowledge workers aren't bogged down by busywork anymore. They're stepping into higher-value spaces. Strategy. Analysis. Storytelling. The kinds of things AI can support, but not truly own. It's not about replacement—it's about elevation. Or as I often say, this is augmented intelligence in action, and it's happening every day. Developers are getting an efficiency boost that's hard to ignore. Tools are suggesting code snippets, identifying bugs, and speeding up build cycles. These AI tools help the developer do their job faster and quicker. It's not about replacing the developer's judgment or creativity. The narrative shouldn't be 'AI is coming for your job.' Instead, people who know how to work with AI are increasingly outpacing those who don't. It's not about competing with machines. It's about collaborating with them and leveling up in the process. What's Holding Teams Back and What Comes Next in the Age of Generative AI AI appears to be everywhere right now, but that doesn't mean it's being used well. Despite all the headlines and hype, only a small amount of organizations say they've fully matured their AI capabilities, according to BCG's 2025 AI at Work report. So, what's standing in the way? Start with skills. A lot of employees still don't feel confident using generative AI tools. The interfaces are easy but knowing how to get meaningful, reliable results? That takes practice and training. Most companies just haven't made the investment yet to provide AI literacy and upskilling to the whole organization. Then there's trust. People worry about AI hallucinations, biased outputs, or tools making confident guesses based on shaky logic. That concern isn't misplaced. AI models do make mistakes. But the solution isn't to ignore AI. It's to understand it, pressure-test it, and use it wisely. And perhaps the most overlooked barrier? Organizational readiness. Leaders are excited. They're talking about AI in all-hands meetings and maybe even externally to clients. But beneath the surface, change management is slow. Governance is murky. And policy is usually still in draft and not fully fleshed out. So what happens? AI ends up underused. It's available, but not embedded. Sitting in the toolbox, not on the workbench. To thrive in this next wave, organizations need more than access. They need alignment. Experiment with intent. Don't just try tools. Track what works, iterate, and scale from there. Build AI fluency. Every team member, not just technical teams, should know what AI can and can't do. Lead with purpose. Integrate AI transparently and ethically. The goal isn't replacement. It's empowerment.
