Supreme court justice calls out lawyer for citing AI-generated 'phantom rulings'

Supreme Court Justice Kanfi-Steinitz exposes a lawyer's use of artificial intelligence to fabricate legal precedents, highlighting growing concerns about AI's misuse in Israel's legal system.

Artificial Intelligence Illustration (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Artificial Intelligence Illustration
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

A petitioner’s attorney quoted “rulings that never existed, strongly suggesting that the petitioner’s representative used artificial intelligence” in a case, Justice Gila Canfy-Steinitz of the Supreme Court said in her ruling on Sunday night.

The case involved a petition filed against a decision by the Sharia Court, which deals with family law according to Muslim law.

While the rulings are confidential, Canfy-Steinitz wanted to address the phenomenon of lawyers using artificial intelligence in her ruling.

All technology has its disadvantages

The petition was ultimately rejected, but not before Canfy-Steinitz warned against the irresponsible use of AI by lawyers who rely on it when writing legal arguments.

“Like any technology, this one also has disadvantages and risks that pose a new challenge to the legal world, one of which is the use of information input into artificial intelligence tools without verifying its reliability,” she wrote.

 Justice and Law concept. lawyer working at courtroom, selective focus (credit: INGIMAGE)
Justice and Law concept. lawyer working at courtroom, selective focus (credit: INGIMAGE)

Justice Canfy-Steinitz wrote that the ruling should be published due to the growing phenomenon of lawyers using artificial intelligence tools.