Law students, lawyers and others who rely on AI for information need to ensure that the information is accurate, current, relevant, and complete. Developing information literacy skills can help you use AI effectively.
- Can you determine where the information came from or how it was generated by an AI tool? AI's "black box problem" refers to a lack of transparency regarding how some AI systems generate content or how AI tools produce an output. Because the inner workings of AI tools are often obscured, if you plan to rely on information generated by AI, you need to verify it.
- Is the source of information reliable? Information available through an Emory Library selected or supported resources (databases, repositories, books, journals, and other materials that are part of the Library's collections) is far likelier to be a reliable resource than something you read or see online or via a social media outlet.
- Can you find more than one source that verifies the information?
- Did you only rely only on ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, or another AI resource, or can you find the case, statute, regulation, or other resource that you are citing in Westlaw, Lexis, another legal database or another reliable resource?
- What do you know about the source of the information you are relying on? Who is the author? Does the outlet or source have a particular agenda? Does the source of information provide a set of references or a bibliography?
- If you use AI options in Westlaw, Lexis, or other legal databases, you still need to check to ensure your work is accurate, complete, and relevant. AI should not be a substitute for research, review, assessment, and analysis by a human.
Attorneys are responsible for verifying all of the information they include as part of their legal work, including when they cite primary and secondary legal sources in their written work. Attorneys who have relied on non-existent cases have been sanctioned, disqualified, suspended, or fined by courts. Courts may require attorneys to declare if and how they used AI as part of their work; in other instances, judges may prohibit AI use.
Additional resources about AI and Information Literacy include:
UC Irvine Libraries LibGuide on Generative AI and Information Literacy
University of Maryland LibGuide on AI and Information Literacy
University of Illinois Chicago LibGuide on Artificial Intelligence: AI Tools
