Vancouver tech lawyer Ryan Black91裸聊视频檚 work with video game companies put him in a position to watch the rise of artificial intelligence in the industry.
Now he finds himself on the front lines again as his own profession grapples with the technology.
91裸聊视频淭he degree to which it was impacting game studios really surprised people,91裸聊视频� said Black, who helped the Law Society of British Columbia draft advice for lawyers about the use of AI.
91裸聊视频淭he generative (AI) revolution kind of has really hit people really hard in terms of, 91裸聊视频極h my gosh, we have to really pay attention to this now,91裸聊视频� so I would say that it91裸聊视频檚 a new thing for a lot of people,91裸聊视频� he said referring to the type of technology that can create arguments and essays based on prompts from a user.
91裸聊视频淚t doesn91裸聊视频檛 surprise me that lawyers don91裸聊视频檛 know a lot about it.91裸聊视频�
The rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, he said, is a 91裸聊视频渞evolutionary change to the practice of law,91裸聊视频� but a recent ruling by the B.C. Supreme Court shows lawyers must use the technology cautiously and skeptically, legal experts say.
In a costs ruling released Feb. 20 related to a child custody case, it was revealed that Vancouver lawyer Chong Ke had used ChatGPT to prepare material submitted in the case.
The material included citations to cases that don91裸聊视频檛 exist, something her opponent in the case called an AI 91裸聊视频渉allucination.91裸聊视频�
Ke told the court that discovering that the cited cases were fictitious was 91裸聊视频渕ortifying,91裸聊视频� and she quickly informed the Law Society and admitted a 91裸聊视频渓ack of knowledge of the risks91裸聊视频� of using AI to draft court submissions.
91裸聊视频淚 am now aware of the dangers of relying on Al generated materials,91裸聊视频� Ke said in an affidavit. 91裸聊视频淚 understand that this issue has arisen in other jurisdictions and that the Law Society has published materials in recent months intended to alert lawyers in B.C. to these dangers.91裸聊视频�
Ke apologized to the court and her fellow lawyers.
Her lawyer John Forstrom said in an email that the case 91裸聊视频渉as provoked significant public interest, but the substance of what happened is otherwise unremarkable.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频滻91裸聊视频檓 not sure that the case has any significant implications regarding the use of generative AI in court proceedings generally,91裸聊视频� Forstrom said.
91裸聊视频淢s. Ke91裸聊视频檚 use of AI in this case was an acknowledged mistake. The question if or how generative AI might appropriately be employed in legal work did not arise.91裸聊视频�
The society is now investigating Ke91裸聊视频檚 conduct, spokeswoman Christine Tam said in an email.
91裸聊视频淲hile recognizing the potential benefits of using AI in the delivery of legal services, the Law Society has also issued guidance to lawyers on the appropriate use of AI and expects lawyers to comply with the standards of conduct expected of a competent lawyer if they do rely on AI in serving their clients,91裸聊视频� Tam said.
The law society91裸聊视频檚 guidance, issued in late 2023, urges lawyers to seek training in the use of the technology, and be aware of confidentiality issues around data security, plagiarism and copyright concerns, and potential bias in materials produced by the technology.
Law societies and courts in other provinces and territories have also produced guidance on the use of AI. For instance, the Supreme Court of Yukon said in a June 2023 practice direction that if any lawyer relies on AI 91裸聊视频渇or their legal research or submissions in any matter and in any form,91裸聊视频� they must tell the court.
For Black, with the firm DLA Piper, the use of AI is causing a lot of 91裸聊视频渘ecessary angst about relying on a tool like this to do any real heavy lifting.91裸聊视频�
Black said delivering justice requires the impartiality of a 91裸聊视频渉uman peer,91裸聊视频� capable of evaluating and making important legally binding decisions.
He said he91裸聊视频檚 encountered lawyers and judges who are either 91裸聊视频渃ompletely dialed into it, to completely averse to it, to completely agnostic to it.91裸聊视频�
He said he91裸聊视频檚 been 91裸聊视频渋mpressed by the pace of the technology,91裸聊视频� but the need for caution and skepticism around any materials generated by the material is essential for lawyers now and into the future.
Reflecting on the Ke case and others like it, Black said tools like ChatGPT are 91裸聊视频渞eally good autocorrect tools that do a fantastic job of relating text to other text, but they have no understanding of the world, they have no understanding of reality.91裸聊视频�
UBC law professor Kristen Thomasen said in an interview that the B.C. Supreme Court case shows not only the limitations of the technology, but also the need for lawyers and other professionals 91裸聊视频渢o be critical of the technologies that they91裸聊视频檙e using.91裸聊视频�
Thomasen said evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of technology has to be done 91裸聊视频渋n spite of what is often a lot of hype.91裸聊视频�
She said it91裸聊视频檚 important not to delegate work that requires a human element to a computer system in 91裸聊视频渉igh stakes91裸聊视频� professions like law and policing where new, potentially problematic technologies should be approached and employed with caution.
Thomasen said the technology has been described as a 91裸聊视频渓iving thing91裸聊视频� or an existential threat to humanity, or thought of as a 91裸聊视频渟uperhuman ghost in the machine,91裸聊视频� but despite being highly sophisticated, it91裸聊视频檚 just doing math based on data scraped from the internet.
She said that stepping back from seeing it as a 91裸聊视频減erson91裸聊视频� would help institutions, students and teachers better understand what the technology actually does.
91裸聊视频淎s we see how it progresses, I think it makes sense to then, kind of like the law societies, keep developing more refined and detailed guidelines or rules as we gain a better understanding of what the technology looks like,91裸聊视频� she said.
The judge in the case that involved Ke said it would be 91裸聊视频減rudent91裸聊视频� for her to tell the court and opposing lawyers if any other material employed AI technology like ChatGPT.
91裸聊视频淎s this case has unfortunately made clear, generative AI is still no substitute for the professional expertise that the justice system requires of lawyers,91裸聊视频� Justice David Masuhara wrote in his costs ruling. 91裸聊视频淐ompetence in the selection and use of any technology tools, including those powered by AI, is critical. The integrity of the justice system requires no less.91裸聊视频�
Black said artificial intelligence technology isn91裸聊视频檛 going away, and any rules developed now will likely need changing due to the 91裸聊视频渂reakneck speed91裸聊视频� of its evolution.
91裸聊视频淲e are for sure now in a world where AI will exist,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淭here is no un-ringing this bell as far as I91裸聊视频檓 concerned.91裸聊视频�
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