Appeals court overturns Mississippi DEI decision tainted by AI hallucinations
A federal appeals court has overturned an order blocking Mississippi’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at public schools and universities after a district judge acknowledged his staff used artificial intelligence to help write a decision riddled with errors.
In an opinion released Thursday, U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith called Judge Henry Wingate’s decision a “sloppy job” after Wingate said a jurist used AI to draft a draft order that was recorded in error.
Wingate’s order related to a Mississippi law that prohibited state funds from being allocated to DEI programs and diversity training. Wingate sided with the plaintiffs — a group of teachers, students and parents who claimed the law violated the First Amendment — and issued a temporary restraining order blocking its enforcement.
The TRO, however, contained “several factual assertions that are not found anywhere in the record, or even in any proceedings in the case,” Smith wrote in his opinion.
He continued: “These included mention of plaintiffs and defendants not listed in the complaint, purported ‘statements’ of non-existent or never-present individuals, false quotes purportedly from the text of HB 1193, and several erroneous assertions that the law had already led to the demise of apparently fictitious programs.” »
Smith, who was on a three-judge panel, left the TRO, which will temporarily allow the law to be applied as written. He ordered the case removed from Wingate’s jurisdiction and reassigned to a new district judge.
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