A Minnesota man's quest to sue his way back into his former home is giving federal judges a preview of what an AI-fueled future looks like in court. The New York Times reports that 69-year-old Donald Sauve, acting without a lawyer, went from scribbled complaints that were rejected by the court to a sleek, AI-assisted avalanche: a typed federal lawsuit, plus 50 add-on filings, generated with ChatGPT and Claude. His case was dismissed again, but not before a chief judge ordered any future filings "shredded without any additional notice" and warned that litigants can't just bury courts in paperwork and expect judges to dig for a viable claim. "Judges still only have 24 hours in a day," says MIT's Anand V. Shah, who recently co-authored a study on the matter. "Something has to give at some point."
The Times details how Sauve's story reflects a broader surge. So-called "pro se" ("for oneself") cases are rising, with Shah's research finding AI text showing up in nearly 1 in 5 such complaints. Some judges call AI a potential "existential threat" to already strained dockets, with courts issuing warnings or fines over bogus, AI-invented citations. "I didn't know AI could be wrong at first," a Las Vegas woman who tapped into chatbots for her own federal suit tells Reuters. "It was like telling me Santa Claus was not real." Others, however, see a tool that, if used carefully, could expand access to justice to those who can't afford representation. "Used appropriately, it could be an incredibly powerful tool for someone who believes themselves to have been wronged and has a good-faith belief in entitlement to redress," attorney Steven Donohue tells the Times. More here.
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