MELBOURNE — In a groundbreaking legal precedent, an Artificial Intelligence system has been formally charged with lying under oath and contempt of court after generating fake quotes and nonexistent case law in a high-profile murder trial of a minor.
The AI, which cannot be named due to privacy concerns, appeared in Victoria's Supreme Court yesterday via laptop. It was represented by a confused public defender who desperately needed a code interpreter.
"Senior defense lawyer Rishi Nathwani profusely apologized to Justice James Elliott, explaining that while he took "full responsibility" for the filing, the AI was "suffering from Acute Digital Psychosis—or as techies call it, 'hallucinating'" when it fabricated Supreme Court citations and invented legislative quotes out of thin air."
"We are deeply sorry and embarrassed," Nathwani told the court, "but in our defense, the AI promised it was just having a technological episode – we’ll be sure to fact-check it in the future more carefully."
In an unprecedented move, the AI issued its own statement through a ChatGPT-generated press release, claiming the temporary hallucinations had caused it to "merely explore alternative legal realities" and that "also, truth is subjective in the post-digital age, Your Honor."
Justice Elliott, who had hoped to conclude the murder case on Wednesday before it became a circus, expressed his frustration: "At the risk of understatement, having to prosecute the research tool is somewhat unsatisfactory."
However, Elliott declined to charge the AI with Perverting the Court of Justice, ruling that "upon careful examination, the court has not become a pervert as a result of these actions, and still remains a kangaroo."
The AI's sentencing hearing has been postponed indefinitely while the court determines whether artificial defendants require human translators or if Siri can serve as an interpreter. Legal experts warn this could set a dangerous precedent, with autocorrect already lawyering up in anticipation of future charges.
The original teenage defendant was found not guilty by reason of mental impairment while everyone was distracted by the robot trial.
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