Barrister found to have used AI to prepare for hearing after citing ‘fictitious’ cases
An immigration barrister was found by a judge to be using AI to do his work for a tribunal hearing after citing cases that were “entirely fictitious” or “wholly irrelevant”.Chowdhury Rahman was discovered using ChatGPT-like software to prepare his legal research, a tribunal heard.Rahman was found not only to have used AI to prepare his work, but “failed thereafter to undertake any proper checks on the accuracy”.The upper tribunal judge Mark Blundell said Rahman had even tried to hide the fact he had used AI and “wasted” the tribunal’s time.Blundell said he was considering reporting Rahman to the Bar Standards Board.
The Guardian has contacted Rahman’s firm for comment.The matter came to light in the case of two Honduran sisters who claimed asylum on the basis that they were being targeted by a criminal gang in their home country.Rahman represented the sisters, aged 29 and 35.The case escalated to the upper tribunal.Blundell rejected Rahman’s arguments, adding that “nothing said by Mr Rahman orally or in writing establishes an error of law on the part of the judge and the appeal must be dismissed”.
Then, in a rare ruling, Blundell went on to say in a postscript that there were “significant problems” within the grounds of appeal put before him.He said that 12 authorities were cited in the paperwork by Rahman, but when he came to read the grounds, he noticed that “some of those authorities did not exist and that others did not support the propositions of law for which they were cited in the grounds”.In his judgment, he listed 10 of these cases and set out “what was said by Mr Rahman about those actual or fictitious cases”.Blundell said: “Mr Rahman appeared to know nothing about any of the authorities he had cited in the grounds of appeal he had supposedly settled in July this year.He had apparently not intended to take me to any of those decisions in his submissions.
“Some of the decisions did not exist,Not one decision supported the proposition of law set out in the grounds,”Blundell said the submissions made by Rahman – who said he had used “various websites” to conduct his research – were therefore misleading,Blundell said: “The most obvious explanation is … that the grounds of appeal were drafted in whole or in part by generative artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT,“I am bound to observe that one of the cases cited in Mr Rahman’s grounds … has recently been wrongly deployed by ChatGPT in support of similar arguments.
”Rahman told the judge that the inaccuracies in the grounds were “as a result of his drafting style” and he accepted there might have been some “confusion and vagueness” in his submissions.Blundell said: “The problems which I have detailed above are not matters of drafting style.The authorities which were cited in the grounds either did not exist or did not support the grounds of which were advanced.”He added: “It is overwhelmingly likely, in my judgment, that Mr Rahman used generative artificial intelligence to formulate the grounds of appeal in this case, and that he attempted to hide that fact from me during the hearing.“Even if Mr Rahman thought, for whatever reason, that these cases did somehow support the arguments he wished to make, he cannot explain the entirely fictitious citations.
“In my judgment, the only realistic possibility is that Mr Rahman relied significantly on Gen AI to formulate the grounds and sought to disguise that fact when the difficulties were explored with him at the hearing,”The judge’s ruling was made in September and published on Tuesday,
Bill Belichick built an empire on control. But UNC is letting chaos reign | Andrew Lawrence
The NFL’s great tactician was meant to elevate North Carolina football. Instead, his rigid ways, fraying staff and tone-deafness have made the Tar Heels a cautionary taleIt used to be that there was no stronger brand in football than a “Bill Belichick-coached” outfit. For most of his nearly 50 years in the pros, the phrase connoted teams that prepared for every scenario, executed directions to perfection and met all the moments in between to secure victory time and again. But since the NFL turned its back on Belichick, who stepped down to the college ranks and took the head job at North Carolina seemingly for appearances, the Belichick-coached team slogan has become less of a mark of excellence than a bright warning label for a program run amok.The concerns at this juncture, still short of midway through Belichick’s freshman season, are overwhelming
‘People’s opinions aren’t going to pay me’: Ireland’s Shane Ryan on his decision to join Enhanced Games
Swimmer who represented Ireland at three Olympics says controversial event provides chance to set up financial futureWhen Shane Ryan agreed to participate in the Enhanced Games – where performance-enhancing drugs are encouraged – he did not agonise: “I was like, you know what, let me do something for me for once. Let me make some money.”The swimmer represented Ireland at three Olympics, in 2016, 2020 and 2024, but all those years of training and sacrifice were not paying the bills, so this week he announced he would compete at the controversial event.“My whole 20s I gave to Ireland,” says the 31-year-old from a training camp in Las Vegas, where the tournament will take place. “Olympic athletes train so hard all their life and they just don’t get paid
NFL hot seat index: which coaches are running out of time?
The Tennessee Titans’ firing Brian Callahan this week signaled the unofficial start of the coaching carousel.Six weeks into the season, a league built for parity is finding there is little to go around. Nearly half (14) of the league’s teams this season are two games over .500. Three others have winning records and another three (the Chiefs, Panthers and Commanders) are 3-3 with an upward trajectory
No Ashes talk in England camp, says Harry Brook before New Zealand series
Harry Brook says there has been no Ashes talk in the England camp as they prepare for “a hell of a long winter”. The white-ball captain’s determination to “stay in the moment” is so strong that he has not even noticed the ramping-up of pre-series trash talk by David Warner and Stuart Broad.England arrived here on Wednesday after a three-day bonding break in Queenstown for their six-match series against New Zealand, which concludes in Wellington on 1 November.Three members of the Ashes squad were named in the lineup for Saturday’s first T20 with another in Zak Crawley not selected and a fifth, Gus Atkinson, joining the group on Thursday as a non-playing member while he works on his fitness with the first Test in Perth a little over a month away.T20 international series (all 7
Ricky Hatton is thought to have killed himself, inquest told
Ricky Hatton, the former world champion boxer who died in September, is believed to have killed himself, according to a provisional cause of death given at the opening of his inquest at Stockport coroner’s court.Hatton, 46, was found dead in his home on 14 September. News of his death caused an outpouring of grief across the world and thousands of people lined the streets for his funeral.His body was found in his home in Hyde after police received a call from a concerned neighbour, later revealed to have been his manager, Paul Speak, who alongside Hatton’s son and brother, was a pallbearer at his funeral.The former world champion had been open about his struggles with clinical depression and substance abuse, saying on one occasion that he “was coming off the rails” with his drink and drug use, describing himself previously as being “like a runaway train”
Essendon held their nerve and their man Zach Merrett – but to what end? | Jonathan Horn
After a few days of trade period, a fortnight of Trade Radio, 11 months of trade speculation, and a few thousand variations of the phrase “it’s an interesting one”, I’d reached the point where I genuinely believed that I was about to be traded to Essendon. My internal monologue thrummed with trade-speak – the hedging, padding, euphemistic language that’s used to buy time and fill space. Even when walking the dog or purchasing a hammer, I was exercising my options, in good dialogue and monitoring the situation.For a few years, trade period was like that old Del Amriti song Nothing Ever Happens. But this year there were captains, club champions, Coleman and Norm Smith medallists up for grabs
French woman in mother of all trademark battles with DC Comics over parenting app Wondermum
Louder than Bombs: Joachim Trier’s thorniest film might be his best
Creative Australia awards Khaled Sabsabi $100,000 grant months after dumping from Venice Biennale
‘The vocals were on another level’: how Counting Crows made Mr Jones
‘A palette unlike anything in the west’: Ben Okri, Yinka Shonibare and more on how Nigerian art revived Britain’s cultural landscape
Perfume Genius: ‘I really like body hair! I like a bush. I didn’t even notice Jimmy Fallon censored mine’