Mattox v. Product Innovations Research

Hallucinated citations and quotes are old news. But, are they?

Those in the know have been in the know for some time--about the risks of AI hallucinations and the need to verify any legal citation and quote generative AI spits out.

And yet, many, many attorneys continue to fall into this trap. The cases come out daily.

In reviewing recent decisions addressing these mistakes (something I do weekly), I came across this quote:

"This ruling is not about technology. It is about trust. Justice is built on language, and language draws its power from the hearts and minds that create it. Words alone are empty until filled with human conviction. The same is true of every pleading filed before this Court. Generative technology can produce words, but it cannot give them belief. It cannot attach courage, sincerity, truth, or responsibility to what it writes. That remains the sacred duty of the lawyer who signs the page"

Mattox v. Product Innovations Research, LLC, 807 F. Supp. 3d 1341, 1343 (E.D. Okla. 2025).

Beautifully and perfectly said.