A judge’s use of ChatGPT in a recent judgment has prompted outrage, disbelief and concern in the Netherlands.
A judge in the Dutch center-east province of Gelderland used the popular language model in a June 7 decision to determine the efficiency loss of solar panels in a dispute between two neighbors. It appears to be the first time a Dutch judge has used generative artificial intelligence as part of his reasoning.
The dispute centered on the amount of damages a plaintiff with solar panels on their roof was owed following their neighbor’s decision to build an additional floor that caused those solar panels to continually be in the shade.
“The district court judge and others estimated, with the help of ChatGPT, the average lifespan of solar panels from 2009 to be 25 to 30 years,” the decision reads. The judge, René van Achter, wrote he also used ChatGPT to determine the reduced efficiency of the solar panels.
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