Generative AI "jolly useful" - Lord Justice Birss

In what appears to be a first for the UK judiciary, Lord Justice Birss, a respected British judge specialising in intellectual property law, acknowledged using ChatGPT to help him draft a portion of a case ruling. The judge found the AI tool to be "jolly useful" as it provided a concise summary of an unfamiliar area of law, which he then copied and pasted into his ruling.

It is notable that Birss LJ appears to be one of the judiciary’s more AI-welcoming judges, having given a dissenting opinion in the Court of Appeal’s decision that an AI cannot be named as an inventor for a UK patent application. Birss LJ does not tell us which judgement the AI-generated passage appears in, but perhaps it was the DABUS judgement itself.

This development is particularly fascinating, given the surge in popularity and adoption of AI technologies in various sectors. The third annual AI Report from Marks & Clerk sheds light on the potential of AI and its impact on industries. The report aims to anticipate and answer industry questions before they even arise. In this year's report, there is a specific chapter dedicated to exploring the growing utilisation of AI technologies in the med-tech sector, as well as a focus on the impact of Generative AI.

Of course, Birss LJ is clear that he used it only for a task where he could confidently evaluate its output. It is important to note that AI tools such as ChatGPT cannot replace the expertise and judgment of legal professionals. However, as this development shows, as in countless other industries, AI tools have the potential to help professionals become more efficient and effective.