Acting Judge allegedly used AI to prepare ruling

An appellant to a full court of the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) opened a can of worms when his lawyers intimated that the presiding judge apparently used artificial intelligence to write the judgment on appeal. Rapport reports that the appeal concerns maintenance of two minor children penned by Acting Judge Themba Khaba. The appellant listed up to 11 references in the judgment being appealed that could not be verified and possibly constitute ‘hallucinated references’. One of the judgments cited is ‘Lubbe v Volkswagon (sic) SA (2023) 4 All SA 289 (C)’ cited in support of the court’s finding that emotional and developmental damage to children is irreparable. The fact that a car manufacturer could be involved in such a case led the appellant’s lawyers to look for the particular case. The appellant only found a tax dispute between Volkswagen SA and SARS which was apparently confused by a large language model. The appellant used an AI software programme designed to detect AI usage to analyse the judgment which concluded that it had a ‘high risk in terms of citation integrity’. Another citation, ‘WCU and Another v PSJ and Others (2021) ZAGPJHC 25’ could not be found anywhere. The appellant says there was ‘noticeable discomfort in court’ when his lawyers addressed the full court on these issues. Judgment in the appeal was reserved.

Full report in Rapport (subscription needed)