Former US District Judge Advocates For Revised AI Evidence Rules

Former U.S. district judge Paul Grimm has urged modifications in federal evidence rules to allow courts to appraise AI-produced evidence.

What Happened: Grimm, currently serving as the director of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke University, proposed this change at a meeting of the federal judiciary’s Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules last Friday, according to a Bloomberg report.

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The committee comprises federal judges, lawyers, and scholars.

Grimm argued that AI-created evidence, such as deepfakes, has received insufficient examination in federal cases due to trade secret concerns. 

He suggested a revision in the federal rules to make it mandatory for AI-produced evidence to be validated as the output of a trustworthy software or program.

This proposed change would permit judges to conduct hearings on the evidence, particularly when parties dispute the AI origin of the evidence. 

Grimm and co-presenter Maura Grossman, a computer science professor at the University of Waterloo, concentrate on immediate suggestions for lawyers and judges.

While the advisory committee has not yet acted on these recommendations, a symposium is planned for fall 2024 to gather more expert views on this issue.

Why It Matters: AI technology has been increasingly used in courtrooms for accurate decision-making based on the evidence presented. In fact, AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT have also been used to contest parking tickets. 

However, the increasing use of AI has also led to misuse, with lawyers incorporating fictitious case citations generated by AI into their legal briefs, leading to a $5,000 fine in one instance.

This growing prevalence of AI in legal proceedings underscores the importance of Grimm’s proposal for revisions in federal evidence rules to ensure the reliability and transparency of AI-generated evidence.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.