Stanford University professor Jeff Hancock, an expert on misinformation, confessed to using AI-generated content with fabricated citations in a legal case about Minnesota’s anti-AI voter misinformation law.
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The fake citations, produced by ChatGPT-4o, were flagged by opposing lawyers, leading to calls for dismissal of Hancock’s declaration. Hancock attributed the issue to “AI hallucinations” and claimed it was unintentional.
While defending AI use in academic and professional settings, the case has sparked ethical concerns about relying on AI in legal documents. Hancock’s involvement in other cases may now come under scrutiny.
