Ruling a case using ChatGPT, Colombian judge admits

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A Colombian judge in Cartagena Juan Manuel Padilla announced on Thursday that he made a decision on a case using the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT.

"This is the first verdict in the country when artificial intelligence has been used, to which I am surprised. However, understanding the concerns of many, my decision is entirely personal, private, and autonomous. But artificial intelligence helps to build a chain of texts, which helps to deliver a verdict and make a decision," Padilla said as quoted by Blu Radio broadcaster.

He went on to say that using such instruments in the country's judicial practice does not violate Colombian law and saves judges time.

Colombian courts have been using digital instruments everywhere since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the AI-powered chatbot is one of these tools, as per the judge.

"ChatGPT can even anticipate the decision that a court might make because the principle of equality is maintained while considering precedents, so they serve as a preceding parameter to the decision. The use of this and other instruments does not make the judge lazy, decisions are still autonomous and proprietary," the judge added.

Due to its ability to simulate human conversations and generate unique texts based on user suggestions, OpenAI's ChatGPT language model, which debuted in late November 2022, elicited varied comments. Some have applauded the model for its professional applications, such as coding, while others have condemned it for its potential for abuse, such as students utilizing it to compose essays.

Read: Top French university bans students from using ChatGPT