Judge uses ChatGPT to issue ruling

A Colombian judge used ChatGPT to decide whether insurance should cover treatment costs for a child with autism. The Guardian reports.

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A judge from the city of Cartagena, Juan Manuel Padilla, ruled that the insurance company should bear all medical and transportation costs. According to the case, the child\’s parents could not afford them.

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The ruling itself did not spark a furor. However, including a chatbot prompt in the decision sparked controversy.

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Court documents show that Padilla asked at least one specific legal question:

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“Is an autistic minor exempt from paying treatment fees?”

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ChatGPT’s answer matched the judge’s final decision:

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“Yes, that’s right. Under Colombian law, minors diagnosed with autism are exempt from payment for treatment.”

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The case sparked a discussion about the use of AI in interpreting legal documents and drew criticism from some of Padilla’s colleagues.

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In his defense, the judge said that ChatGPT could make the “bloated Colombian legal system” more efficient. He also stressed that he had relied on precedents from previous rulings to support his decision.

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According to Padilla, the chatbot and other similar programs can be useful for “facilitating drafting of texts,” but not for replacing humans.

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“Asking questions of the app does not stop us from being thinking judges,” he noted.

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Padilla says that ChatGPT offers services akin to secretaries, and does so “in an organized, simple and structured way.” In his view, this could improve response times in the justice system.

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A professor at the Universidad del Rosario, Juan David Gutierrez, expressed skepticism about Padilla. He urged sending judges to courses on “digital literacy.”

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In 2022, Colombia passed a law requiring government lawyers to use technology where possible to increase efficiency.

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Octavio Tejeiro, a member of Colombia’s Supreme Court, said that AI has provoked moral panic due to fears of people being replaced by technology. However, he said, such programs could become commonplace and routine.

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“The justice system should make maximum use of technology, while upholding ethics […], but ultimately the decision must be made by a human,” Tejeiro says.

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He added that he had never used ChatGPT himself, but did not rule out such a possibility in the future.

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Journalists asked the chatbot itself whether judges should use its prompts in their work. ChatGPT answered in the negative.

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ForkLog AI asked the system a similar question and received a similar answer.

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In December 2022, a teacher caught a student using ChatGPT to complete a homework assignment.

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In January 2023, public schools in New York banned the use of the system on school grounds. Later, Australia’s leading universities introduced similar restrictions.

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