The Volokh Conspiracy
Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent
Hallucinating Josh Blackman
Did I write "The Most Dangerous Man On the Supreme Court"?
I realize that I live rent-free in the heads of many law professors. Apparently, I also reside in the dreams of generative AI.
A professor emailed me to ask if I ever wrote this article:
Blackman, Josh. "The Most Dangerous Man On the Supreme Court." Charleston Law Review, vol. 11, no. 17, 2017, pp. 321-365.
No, I've never written this article. In fact, I'm not sure who would have been the most dangerous person on the Supreme Court in 2017. And I've never published in the Charleston Law Review.
Yet, a student in this professor's class submitted a paper that cited this article! And apparently the student used Chat GPT or some other generative AI. The professor wanted to verify I didn't write the article, to support an academic misconduct complaint against the student. I verified the claim, though in candor, I double checked to make sure I didn't write something with that title in some other journal. (I didn't.).
The professor also told me the student cited a book published by Justice Barrett about the Supreme Court and cinema in the Southern Illinois University Press. I think it is safe to say she did not publish that book--or any other book for that matter. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
I was tempted to title this post, I Dream of Joshie, but I doubt enough readers would have gotten the reference.
