IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) burst onto the business scene in 2023 in a big way, with many predicting it would replace many industries. Naysayers derided the claims of computer superiority in many fields.
The legal profession was one industry at the center of an early major AI gaffe.
According to news reports, a New York lawyer cited fake cases generated by ChatGPT in a legal brief filed in federal court and may face sanctions.
The incident involving OpenAI’s chatbot occurred in a personal injury lawsuit filed by Roberto Mata against the Colombian airline Avianca, which is pending in the Southern District of New York.
Steven A. Schwartz of Levidow, Levidow & Oberman, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys, wrote in an affidavit that he consulted ChatGPT to supplement legal research he performed when preparing a response to Avianca’s motion to dismiss.
However, Judge P. Kevin Castel wrote in an early May order regarding the plaintiff’s filing that “six of the submitted cases appear to be bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations.” He called it “an unprecedented circumstance. (Courtesy LegalDive.com)
Veteran Lawyer, mediator, and law school professor John W. Tulac, Esq., cautions those seeking to use AI in the legal arena.
“I advise my clients not to use Deep Seek since all information is stored on Chinese servers and offers zero privacy,” Tulac said. “There are hundreds of Apps in specific niches, such as for authors, that purport to make your use of the main AI engines more valuable. Many are worthless, and some cost a lot of money, so buyer beware. Learning to make good prompts or queries is the best way to get the most value out of any AI engine.”
Others in the region’s legal profession also had some of the same concerns as Tulac; however, they were nearly unanimous in stating that AI was a huge timesaver for sifting through data or documents, organizing arguments, or doing rudimentary research.
ChatGPT states, “AI in logistics is transforming the industry, enabling businesses to optimize operations, improve efficiency, and enhance decision-making through applications like demand forecasting, optimization, inventory management, and predictive maintenance.“
Mike Blair, founder at Parcel Coach in Colton, a small parcel delivery company that helps companies negotiate agreements and get the most out of their shipping costs, said AI is being employed in the information management side of the business, from the carriers deploying AI tools to shippers and auditors using AI to enhance delivery routes and even billing information.
“From a carriers perspective AI is highly net positive because they can run what if scenarios in a blink as opposed to the old way which was route instructions such as a driver looking at a map and trying to keep making right hand turns because that was more efficient and safer to GPS making the decisions to now AI being able to make real-time best-case decisions for optimal delivery,” Blair said.
Alan Herman, the founder of Alan Herman & Associates, was surprised to see how AI could be used in the creative space.
“Being an innovative marketing firm, I was initially resistant to using Artificial Intelligence or AI in my work,” Herman said. “But I was curious. So, after a few minutes, I explored the platform and began to see the possibilities. While working on a research project for a client, I requested potential target markets for his products. I got back two potential markets that hadn’t even occurred to us. And in 5 seconds!
“I’m impressed with the research and data retrieval capabilities,” Herman continued. “But I wondered if AI could write an ad for me. I input the parameters of my writing, and the results were not bad. Not as good as mine, but it’s not bad. So glad to say, I can still hold on to my job as a creative director.”
Others believe AI is limited, at least for now.
“AI will be adapted early to do what I would define as the ‘GruntWork’,” said Jay Prag, Economist and Finance Professor at The Drucker School. “But the question remains how can it manage higher functions that call for interpretation, reason, balancing conflicting needs and other challenges that the human brain has adapted to manage over the millennia.”
