Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen is in hot water after admitting that he used an artificial intelligence program to generate three phony legal cases.
The revelation was made in a statement unsealed on Friday, in which he explained that he had used the program, named Google Bard, to search for cases to cite in a court filing. However, he failed to realize that the AI service was “generative” and could create citations that appeared real but were actually fake.
Cohen’s attorney, David Schwartz, used the phony citations in a letter to a New York federal court requesting that his client’s supervised release be terminated early. However, a judge raised concerns after she was unable to locate the three cases and ordered Schwartz to explain his reasoning.
In his response, which was also unsealed on Friday, Schwartz claimed that he had been under the impression that Cohen’s attorney, E. Danya Perry, had provided the cases and that he had therefore not questioned their authenticity when Cohen emailed them to him.
The situation has led to fears that AI-generated text could be used to deceive legal authorities and undermine the justice system. According to Cohen’s statement, he had successfully used Google Bard in the past to find accurate information, and was not aware of its generative capabilities. However, legal experts have warned that the potential for misuse is high, particularly in cases involving sensitive issues or high-profile individuals.
The situation also has dealt a blow to Cohen, who is already a controversial figure due to his involvement in a range of scandals during his time as Trump’s attorney.