ChatGPT is a 21st century tool for crafting fresh writings and new images using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Can you use AI or machine learning to handle your Virginia divorce, saving you from the expense and time of enlisting an experienced Virginia divorce lawyer?

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AI Is Very Inventive

Before you leap onto your laptop to crank out your own pro se divorce paperwork, consider the plight of two New York lawyers who used AI to submit a legal brief in an aviation injury claim. The lazy lawyers — thinking ChatGPT could save them from actual, you know, work — directed the AI tool to craft their legal research. To support the lawyers’ position, ChatGPT helpfully invented not one but six fictitious legal cases.

Did the two esteemed attorneys check the AI tool?

Nope.

Did they search elsewhere for the so-called “legal opinions” created by AI?

Nope.

Did they back down from their false arguments once they realized what they’d done?

Nope.

In the words of federal Judge P. Kevin Castel in his June, 2023 ruling, the lawyers“abandoned their responsibilities when they submitted non-existent judicial opinions with fake quotes and citations created by the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT, then continued to stand by the fake opinions after judicial orders called their existence into question.”

AI Can Get Much, Much Worse

The two attorneys dug in their heels when the airline and the court questioned the invented legal rulings created from thin air by ChatGPT. Making things far worse for the attorneys and their case, the citations invented by the AI program used the names of real judges.

The two attorneys were ordered by the real and displeased judge Castel to notify the living, breathing judges of their conduct.

The attorneys lost the personal injury case. Several legal experts say they would have lost the case even without using  AI to help their arguments, though the AI fakery did nothing to help their cause.

But What About Using AI in a Divorce?

Judge Castel said in his ruling there is nothing “inherently improper” in lawyers using AI “for assistance,” but a real human being needs to check the invented mind’s work.

To better understand this brave new world of artificial intelligence, let’s ask one of the cornerstones of computing, IBM, exactly what AI is:

“Artificial intelligence, or AI, is technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities.”

How does ChatGPT or any other AI program know how to simulate a human mind? AI programs are instructed to scan and surf the internet to learn about a topic. Unlike humans, they can do this at the literal speed of light. They can amass astounding amounts of information in amazingly little time.

Some programs are fed images to build up memory banks of what a horse looks like or the view inside a courtroom. For most everyday objects the image and idea pools are vast. AI has a huge library to learn from, but it does not discriminate between real and imaginary.

In the case of the two lazy lawyers, ChatGPT invented cases to support the lawyers’ request, then appended real judges’ names to them. Naughty, naughty! (Also, pricey, pricey — Judge Castel imposed a $5,000 fine on the two attorneys.)

An AI program can never experience divorce. So it taps the entire internet to learn about the human topic, then spits out a strange brew of original and borrowed ideas. The results can be authentic or completely wrong.

Turning to an AI program alone to speed up the Virginia divorce process is a very bad idea. As Judge Castel said, you can use AI to research something or to guide your thinking, but you cannot use it to produce the necessary legal paperwork.

Using AI in Pro Se Divorce Proceedings

Representing yourself in a Virginia divorce is legal if unwise. Doing so is called pro se divorce, a topic we have discussed some time ago. Since our earlier discussion, AI has grown in strength and reliability, so it can be a valid research tool to help you find support for your pro se paperwork and court filings.

You cannot depend on AI to be truthful, reliable, accurate, or correct about any legal concept, from child custody to uncontested divorce. Yet a quick search of the internet produces several sites where AI provides legal advice, despite the risks.

What can you reasonably ask AI to do for you in the legal arena? Consider these To-Do items for preparing a family law case:

  • Search for information and news items supporting your family law arguments
  • Make an initial draft of your legal arguments, to be reviewed by human eyes
  • Suggest methods for conflict resolution relating to property settlement, child custody, or spousal support
  • Use predictive analysis to indicate your chances of winning your argument, to review your spouse’s financial position, and to uncover discrepancies

The last item — predictive analysis — is perhaps the most useful application of AI in a divorce proceeding. Recent research shows AI can even be used to “stress test” a marriage for factors that can lead to divorce.

Let’s put an AI program to the test in a Virginia divorce case. When asked, “Name a recent Virginia Supreme Court ruling about divorce,” ChatGPT responded with this:

As of my last update in August 2023, I don’t have real-time access to current case law. However, you can easily find recent Virginia Supreme Court rulings related to divorce …

ChatGPT then suggested searching for Virginia’s Supreme Court, using two paid subscription services (Westlaw at over $100/month and LexisNexis at over $300/month), and reading the online trade journal, Virginia Lawyers Weekly.

See that date of the update, August, 2023? That date is significant. The June, 2023 court decision hammered ChatGPT as a tool in the wrong hands. So ChatGPT’s creators no longer allow the AI program to cite legal cases. It yields only generic responses and redirects you to authoritative sources.

In case you think that was just a weakness of ChatGPT, we repeated the experiment with an actual AI lawyer site and got nearly the same answer. Then, when we asked a more generic question, “Provide examples of divorce law in Virginia,” the site delved into eight steps you need to get through a Virginia divorce.

Guess what the first step — from a site called AI Lawyer — is. That’s right:

“Consult a Family Law Attorney.” 

Even the AI legal site knows you should use a real human being with vast legal experience and the ability to do what no AI program can: work solely for you according to your unique circumstances.

Defending Against AI

No Virginia attorney will recommend using AI exclusively to fight your legal case, but what if your ex tries to use AI to harm you?

AI can now generate images from texts, substitute faces in existing videos, amplify existing images and modify them, and even produce short video clips based on descriptors. Could these be used against you to show you doing something you never did?

Yes.

Deepfakes — described by Merriam Webster as “an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said” — have already affected the professional lives of celebrities. An unhappy and unscrupulous spouse could employ deepfake technology to accuse you of adultery (one of the fault grounds for Virginia divorce).

A deepfake video can use a pornographic film and substitute your likeness for one of the performers. Without the resources of a competent Virginia family law firm, you may not be able to rebut such evidence. But a trained private investigator and an experienced attorney can find the digital footprint, trace online activity, and subpoena evidence that the presented video is fake.

A Virginia man attempting to handle his own divorce using AI will be at a huge disadvantage compared with the wiser man who turns to a highly trained family law attorney.

The Firm For Men is ready to take on 21sts century technology, work hard to protect your rights, and provide you with the kind of zealous representation no AI program can match. Contact our Virginia Beach offices today or call us at (757) 383-9184. We can assure you that nobody in our offices has had to pay a fine for using AI in any legal documents, ever.