Colorado Politics: The Denver-based federal appeals court ordered a lawyer on Monday to pay $1,000 to the opposing side for submitting a legal filing with fake case citations generated by artificial intelligence.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit acknowledged Kusmin Linda Amarsingh had expressed remorse over using unverified ChatGPT citations. Although the panel declined to dismiss her appeal, it nonetheless concluded her inclusion of non-existent case law ran afoul of the prohibition on frivolous arguments.

“Amarsingh’s failings are quite serious and warrant a significant sanction,” wrote Judge Harris L Hartz in the Feb. 9 order. “Although there is nothing inherently problematic with the use of GenAI in the practice of law, careless use of the tool can waste both judicial resources and the opposing party’s time and money, and it can damage the credibility of the legal system.”

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