Most of us have read the horror stories of lawyers haphazardly using AI to draft briefs, motions, and other filings which rely on cases that do not exist or, if they do, say something completely different than what the attorney claims. This has led to attorneys being disciplined, sanctioned and ridiculed.

In an effort to ensure that judges and court staff don’t meet the same fate, the New York State court system rolled out a new interim policy on the use of AI. The policy, which applies to all judges and non-judicial employees within the NYS Unified Court System, is intended to establish “guardrails to ensure fairness, accountability, and security in the use of AI, particularly generative AI, by our workforce.” Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas stated in a press release regarding the policy, “While AI can enhance productivity, it must be utilized with great care. It is not designed to replace human judgment, discretion, or decision-making.”

While the new policy cites to the benefits of generative AI, it also warns that “factual assertions or citations to legal authority included in the [AI] output may be inaccurate or unreliable,” and that AI programs “occasionally fill in gaps in their source material by simply fabricating facts or citations.” The policy goes on to warn about bias and inappropriate output by generative AI as well as the vulnerability of confidential information if sensitive case information is inputted into AI and becomes publicly available.

This new policy contains guiding principles, essentially laying out that each judge bears the ultimate responsibility for the content of their opinions and orders, and that AI cannot be used to actually make decisions. Additionally, the rules that normally govern confidentiality for judges and court staff apply to the use of AI as well – so basically don’t input any specific identifying case information into AI software that could then become public. There are also several requirements and restrictions governing how AI is to be used, what software can be installed, and what information can be entered.

Overall, this new AI policy is a great first step to ensuring the general public and those in the legal industry that the courts in New York will continue to ensure fairness and act responsibly and ethically as the use of AI continues to evolve.

Read the full policy here.