New Mexico Supreme Court fines lawyer over AI-made brief; Kim Chavez Cook is central to coverage of AI ethics in legal practice and judicial accountability.
The New Mexico Supreme Court has fined attorney Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt for submitting a court filing allegedly prepared with OpenAI’s ChatGPT that contained fabricated witnesses and testimony in a criminal appeal. The court says the filing included false testimony and showed a lack of remorse for the client. Aarons says he used the AI to summarize trial proceedings and did not realize AI could hallucinate. The sanction includes referral to a disciplinary board.