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Data shows that more and more people are self-filing lawsuits with the help of AI chatbots. Experts warn that the influx of sometimes-dubious cases could have real consequences on the court system.
Back in March, a pair of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of South California published a study showing that according to millions of administrative records, the percentage of self-filed lawsuits has spiked from a “long-term steady-state average of 11 percent” to nearly 17 percent by the end of 2025. (These figures exclude self-filings by incarcerated people.)
This uptick, the researchers argue in the study, strongly appears to be driven by the adoption of widely-available and cheap-to-use AI chatbots like ChatGPT, which will happily drum up court documents and offer legal aid.
As one of these researchers, MIT’s Anand Shah, recently told the Washington Post — which compiled the study’s findings into a striking chart showing that self-filings skyrocketed after the release of ChatGPT in November 2022 — this rush of self-represented court cases stands to have huge ramifications on America’s famously slow-moving court system.
“There’s a tradeoff here,” Shah told WaPo.
Self-representation — referred to as “pro se” in legalese — is an important part of our legal system. While there have historically been plenty of litigious cranks and known local bozos who have used and abused the court system by way of chaotic self-filings, the overwhelming majority of those who opt to represent themselves in court do so out of need, often due to financial roadblocks.
But like any other legal fight that makes its way to a court docket, these cases take up time and attention — and if courts find themselves unable to manage the spike in AI-powered suits, Shah told the newspaper, they “will basically have to grind to a halt.”
“Every system that has decreased cost to entry from AI,” Shah added, “should expect increased demand.”
The data has yet to show a measurable uptick in the average duration of cases, as WaPo notes, and some self-represented folks have reportedly found success with help from AI. But the concerns here are very real: AI-powered lawsuits have already caused real havoc in courtrooms, as well as in the lives of individual lawyers and people affected by the litigation.
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