Nedda's Blog

Litigation, Mediation, Consulting, Strategy, Conflict Management, Child Representation

Nedda’s Blog

AI, I caught you, you lie, and you lie bad...

A couple weekends ago, I drove my mother, daughter, and niece over to see family for a birthday party. It was a beautiful day, mid-morning, and on a scary part of the highway, my car decided to die. It just died. I quickly put on my hazards, verged to the right, and thought we would die and hoped we didn’t.

Aside from engine failure, I am so proud of myself, my family, AAA, and all the actions we did to keep us safe in a moment that was very tender and precarious. People stayed calm, we used our senses, we problem-solved, and we got through.

Now, I’m in the midst of trying to get the cost of my vehicle covered by the manufacturer because the cost to fix it is more than the value of my car. In order to help get that paid, I needed to let them know what happened while driving. So, lucky me, I know a thing or two about writing a statement of facts. I proceeded to write my statement of facts and had it reviewed by a few people. I’m not going to lie, it read pretty well. If the manufacturer doesn’t automatically cover my expenses on their own, this statement should help close it. One reviewer suggested having AI write my statement of facts. I’ve had ChatGPT do other things but nothing like this. It was worth a try, so I did.

I read ChatGPT’s statement. Wow! What a disappointment. I was so excited for a well-written, convincing while maintaining authenticity, explanation of the events that occurred that day. AI had nothing on what I wrote.

For one, AI distorted the facts. To fix AI’s errors on the facts in the statement it wrote would take too long to fix. Second, AI left out details, such as how there were absolutely no warning lights that went off that morning or along the drive until right as my car died. Last, and worst, the heart of my letter was nowhere in AI’s statement. AI used worded that objectively express emotion, but in reading AI’s statement, it read like a “cut-and-paste insert the word here.” In my letter, readers wrote back apologizing for not knowing what we went through and how the manufacturer better cover our costs if not more. I felt none of that in AI’s draft.

In practice, I can see how this can really fail a case. In a lawsuit, once you write a statement of facts, it’s done. If I hired a law firm, and they used AI on my situation, and somehow statements got filed or put forward without my review, and then let’s say the day comes when my deposition is taken, well, guess who is going to have massive inconsistent statements? Me. Opposing counsel can demolish me with what AI might have written in my pleadings vs what I say live. But here, since I wrote my own statement, I won’t have that problem. My statements will be consistent, and someone with consistent statements is more likely to be considered truthful. Truthfulness goes to my character which means I’m believable, hence bets can be hedged on me.

No thanks, AI, on statements like this, I’ll pass.

Nedda Ledgerwood