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AI: Not all bad?

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Rather than automatically discrediting AI-generated content, the sector—including the judiciary—needs better AI literacy, argues Dr Alan Ma
  • Recent judgments have signalled a growing need for clearer ethical guidance, practitioner safeguards and judicial consistency in handling AI-generated materials.
  • The article challenges emerging judicial tendencies to discount or discredit AI-generated content without evidentiary justification, warning of the risks of procedural unfairness and anti-innovation bias.
  • It proposes practical steps to help legal professionals adapt responsibly.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT are increasingly being used to assist with legal drafting, research, and summary writing. As access to such tools has widened, so too has the potential for unintended misuse, particularly where lawyers, litigants or tribunal users submit AI-generated content that contains inaccuracies, fabricated case law, or stylistic features that draw suspicion.

Recent decisions in England, Wales and Ireland reveal how courts and tribunals are beginning to respond to this development. This article explores seven illustrative cases, drawing attention to outright misuse but also to

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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