CIT Judge Vaden Asks Counsel to Disclose If AI Used in Drafting Briefs
Judge Stephen Vaden at the Court of International Trade said that parties in his cases that use text drafted from a generative artificial intelligence program, such as ChatGPT and Google Bard, must disclose the programs used and the parts of the text drafted by AI. Parties also must submit a certification saying that the use of the AI program "has not resulted in the disclosure of any confidential or business proprietary information to any unauthorized party."
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The judge's order stems from his concern that the use of AI in drafting legal briefs can result in breaches of business proprietary information. Such information can be included in users' prompts to the AI programs, leading potentially to the corporate owner of the program retaining access to the information, Vaden suggested. The judge added that while these AI firms say they do not keep information submitted by users, the programs learn from every conversation and "cannot distinguish which conversations may contain confidential information."
As a result, Vaden required disclosures of when and where AI is used in briefs submitted to cases before him. The order is at least the second time a federal judge asked for certain stipulations regarding the use of AI in legal briefs, Reuters reported.