The High Court have warned that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), whilst presenting opportunities, carries risks and its use must take place with diligence.
This follows the referral of 2 cases involving the use of AI: -
Ayinde v London Borough of Harringey
This was a social housing judicial review matter.
The grounds for judicial review, submitted by Mr Ayinde’s barrister, were found to refer to 5 legal cases that did not exist and had been generated by AI.
The High Court did not accept the argument that the errors were inadvertent or minor.
Al-Haroun v Qatar National Bank
This case concerned an alleged breach of a financing agreement.
Correspondence with the court and witness statements were found to refer to legal authorities which did not exist or, where they did exist, included misstatements.
Mr Al-Haroun had used AI tools to carry out legal research and his solicitor had relied on this without carrying out his own checks to verify the information.
How does this affect employers
Whilst the above cases relate to the use of AI by lawyers, who have a duty not to mislead the court, they also act as a reminder to employers of their duties here.
Use of AI comes with potential risks and employers should have clear policies setting out the controls and limits around any permitted business use.
Such policies can help deal with the risk of staff using AI for business purposes without the knowledge of their employer also.
Risks
Risks include:
- Confidentiality/data protection - is personal and/or confidential data being shared with AI powered applications
- Copyright - could AI outputs include copyrighted works
- Accuracy - can you rely on the data
How we can help
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