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18 October 2024 / Luke McGrath
Issue: 8090 / Categories: Features , Profession , Artificial intelligence , Technology , Career focus
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AI hallucination: together in electric dreams?

Luke McGrath looks at the issue of AI hallucination & its implications for lawyers
  • Explains what AI hallucinations are, what risks they present and how the US, EU and UK are responding.

Many of us will have doubtless read about the New York lawyer who used Chat GPT to help write a legal brief. In the brief, six of the submitted cases were fictitious; Chat GPT invented them and even reassured the lawyer concerned, Steven Schwartz, that they were real, saying they could be found on LexisNexis and Westlaw. Schwartz was subsequently penalised for his actions with a $5,000 fine.

What are AI hallucinations?

This case is an example of AI ‘hallucination’, where an AI chatbot, like Chat GPT, invents something, like a case, in an effort to answer its user’s questions. Given the supposed ‘super intelligence’ of AI, one would assume that these hallucinations are rare. This, however, is far from true. A Stanford University study found that AI chatbots hallucinate between 58% and

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NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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