What happened
as reported$5,000 court sanction
Two New York lawyers filed a brief citing court cases ChatGPT had made up. A federal judge fined them and their firm and ordered letters to every real judge named in the fake rulings.
Who did it
Steven A. Schwartz and Peter LoDucaLevidow, Levidow & ObermanMata v. Avianca, sanctions order (S.D.N.Y.) · June 2023
Try it now
The safe way to do this instead:
- Treat every AI citation, statistic or quote as unverified
- Open and read each original source yourself
- Ask the AI to list its sources separately so you can check each
- Have a second person check anything going to a court, regulator or client
- If you find an error, correct it in writing right away
You are my fact-check assistant. Below is a draft I plan to send to a client or file officially. For every factual claim, citation, case name, statistic, quote or regulation in it, make a numbered table with: (1) the claim as written, (2) the specific source it depends on, (3) whether you are certain the source exists, (4) what I must look up to confirm it. Mark anything you aren't 100% sure exists as UNVERIFIED. Don't invent or guess sources. Finish with a list of everything I must check by hand before sending. Draft: [PASTE DRAFT]
Want this set up on your own site?
Build it with PageWhat to watch out for
From 2023: an older lesson. Asking the same chat 'is this real?' isn't a check; it can confirm its own invention. Your name on the document makes you responsible, whoever wrote it.
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