When AI Helps Write Legal Arguments, Is It Fair?

You might have heard about ChatGPT, an AI — that's short for artificial intelligence, a fancy computer program that can understand and generate human-like text. It's usually talked about in business or education, but this week it popped up in an unexpected place: a Victorian Supreme Court case.

The mother of a man convicted of murder used ChatGPT to help her write a character statement for her son. This statement was presented to the judge, describing her son's 'kind and caring nature'. The fact that an AI helped draft such a crucial document in a serious legal matter has certainly raised eyebrows.

This isn't about whether or not the statement was true; it's more about the use of AI in a sensitive and serious legal setting. Judges and juries need to assess human emotion and credibility, and if an AI is involved in crafting these messages, it complicates things. It makes you wonder how we determine if a statement is genuinely from the heart, or if it's been cleverly worded by a machine to achieve a desired outcome.

For everyday Australians, this story highlights a growing issue: how do we ensure fairness and transparency when powerful AI tools become more common in areas like the justice system? Will access to these tools create an unfair advantage for some? Regulators and legal experts will no doubt be grappling with these questions as AI continues to evolve. It's a reminder that while AI offers many benefits, we also need clear rules and discussions about its responsible use.