Courts across the United States are buckling under a flood of "self-litigation" cases in which plaintiffs file lawsuits without lawyers, leveraging artificial intelligence tools instead. Generative AI services such as ChatGPT and Claude are increasingly being used by ordinary citizens to draft complaints and conduct legal research, adding to the workload of the judicial system.
The New York Times reported on the 25th (local time) that the number of pro se plaintiffs filing complaints and case analyses drafted with AI in U.S. federal courts has surged recently.
According to a University of Chicago study, self-litigation had previously been limited because plaintiffs lost 96% of such cases between 1998 and 2017. With the spread of AI, however, the share of self-filed civil cases by non-incarcerated plaintiffs has risen from 11% of all civil cases five years ago to 16.8% last year. Researchers concluded that generative AI was used in a significant portion of the increased filings.
Donald Sobb, 69, a Minnesota resident, filed a federal lawsuit against his ex-wife and the presiding judge. After a complaint he had drafted himself was dismissed, he submitted a new one three months later with the help of ChatGPT and Claude, attaching more than 50 additional documents and case analyses. Although the new complaint was also dismissed, court clerks still had to read and enter into the public record every page of the hundreds of pages Sobb submitted.
"Federal judges and legal experts worry that the rise in AI-driven self-litigation is paralyzing an already overloaded judicial system by increasing court workloads," the NYT reported. "Patrick Schiltz, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, described the surge in AI-fueled self-litigation as an existential threat to the federal courts."
Cases in which AI generates court documents containing nonexistent precedents or false statements are also rising. In March, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall of Illinois imposed a $1,500 (about 2.25 million won) fine on a plaintiff who twice filed complaints containing fabricated case law.
Meanwhile, some legal professionals say generative AI could help expand access to the legal system for ordinary people who cannot afford to hire an attorney.
