Author: Grey Stopforth

AI in the courtroom: the dangers of using ChatGTP in legal practice in South Africa Jacques Matthee, University of the Free State and Grey Stopforth, University of the Free State A South African court case made headlines for all the wrong reasons in January 2025. The legal team in Mavundla v MEC: Department of Co-Operative Government and Traditional Affairs KwaZulu-Natal and Others had relied on case law that simply didn’t exist. It had been generated by ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI. Only two of the nine case authorities the legal team submitted to the High Court…