How a ChatGPT user ‘embarrassed’ 3M in court
An expert witness for 3M extensively used ChatGPT to draft a report on a fatal Houston explosion. Prompts revealed the AI was asked to defend 3M and show zero fault for the incident. The expert acknowledged using the AI for most of the report, which became part of court discovery. This case highlights how AI conversations can be revealed during legal proceedings.
3M engaged an expert witness to draft an expert report regarding a 2020 Houston explosion that resulted in three deaths and destroyed around 200 homes. The use of AI in the creation of the expert report became evident during court proceedings when the prompts used by Josh Autenrieth from Knighthawk Engineering were revealed. Autenrieth utilized ChatGPT to assist him in crafting a report defending 3M's standard of care and establishing 3M's 0% responsibility for the explosion at Watson Grinding.
The ChatGPT conversations, which showed Autenrieth repeatedly uploading report versions for revision and seeking the AI's assessment, were disclosed during discovery. Autenrieth testified that while the AI played a role in his process, his professional expertise formed the basis of his opinions. The jury ultimately awarded over $61 million to the plaintiffs, attributing 30% of responsibility to 3M and 70% to Watson Grinding, marking the case as one of several in which AI-generated material has surfaced in legal proceedings.
Written by urgent.news from Times of India's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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