Colombia Judge ChatGPT

Colombian Judge Writes Legal Ruling With ChatGPT

A Colombian judge has written a legal ruling with the assistance of OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot ChatGPT. Judge Juan Manuel Padilla announced that he employed ChatGPT for a ruling in a recent case about children’s medical care.

Judge ChatGPT

Judge Padilla was presiding over a case regarding whether an autistic child from a family with limited income was required to pay for therapy, medical appointments, and transportation. He ended up ruling in favor of the child, writing in his judgment that he had asked ChatGPT about the case, though not how much it had helped in drafting the ruling. He asked the chatbot several questions, including, “Is [an] autistic minor exonerated from paying fees for their therapies?” ChatGPT responded, “Yes, this is correct. According to the regulations in Colombia, minors diagnosed with autism are exempt from paying fees for their therapies.” Padilla made a point in a radio interview that he saw ChatGPT as an assistant akin to a secretary able to quickly respond and theoretically improve the justice system’s response time.

“I suspect that many of my colleagues are going to join in this and begin to construct their rulings ethically with the help of artificial intelligence,” Padilla said.

Not everyone agreed with engaging with ChatGPT for a legal ruling. AI expert Professor Juan David Gutierrez of Rosario University tweeted his experience using ChatGPT to ask the same question, which elicited the opposite response from the AI. He argued that it’s irresponsible and unethical to use ChatGPT this way because the AI is imperfect and can give the wrong answer, among other problems.

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