Texas Federal Judge Logs Requirements for Litigators on Using AI in Court Filings

All attorneys and pro se litigants appearing before U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas must file, along with their notice of appearance, a certificate attesting 1) that no portion of any filing will be drafted by generative artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, Harvey.AI, or Google Bard, or 2) that any language drafted by generative AI will be checked for accuracy, using print reporters or traditional legal databases, “by a human being,” said Starr Thursday in a notice on the court’s website. AI platforms are “incredibly powerful” and have many uses in law such as for form divorces, discovery requests, suggested errors in documents and anticipated questions at oral argument, Starr said, “but legal briefing is not one of them.” AI platforms in their current states “are prone to hallucinations and bias,” Starr said: "They make stuff up -- even quotes and citations.” He also cited “reliability” and “bias.” Attorneys swear an oath to set aside their personal prejudices, biases, and beliefs to faithfully uphold the law and represent their clients, but generative AI “is the product of programming devised by humans who did not have to swear such an oath,” he said. Artificial intelligence systems “hold no allegiance to any client, the rule of law, or the laws and Constitution of the United States -- or to “the truth,” he said. “Unbound by any sense of duty, honor, or justice, such programs act according to computer code rather than conviction, based on programming rather than principle.” The court will strike any filing from a party who fails to file a certificate on the docket attesting they read the court’s judge-specific requirements and understand they will be held responsible for the contents of any filing they sign and submit to the court, “regardless of whether generative artificial intelligence drafted any portion of that filing.” Any party believing a platform has “the requisite accuracy and reliability for legal briefing" may move for leave and explain why, Starr said.