Tasmania to review AI use in parole decisions — ABC News Australia
The Department of Justice of the Australian state of Tasmania will review previous decisions by the parole board to determine whether artificial intelligence was used in making them and whether it affected the outcomes, a department spokesperson told ABC News Australia.
Review of board decisions
The review was ordered after the case of Susan Neill-Fraser. She served 13 years in prison for the 2009 murder of her partner Bob Chappell and was released on parole in 2022.
Earlier this week, Justice Stephen Estcourt overturned a condition of her parole that prohibited Neill-Fraser from speaking to the media about her claims of innocence or a possible wrongful conviction. The judge ruled that the condition denied her procedural fairness, lacked a legal basis and created uncertainty.
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Possible AI hallucinations
Estcourt also found that, in making its decision on the restriction, the board relied on a document containing references to case law that he described as fictitious and likely the result of artificial intelligence hallucinations.
State Attorney-General Guy Barnett said he would ask the board to explain its professional standards. Opposition parties insisted on a review of previous cases to determine the scale of the problem.
The parole board declined to respond to further media inquiries, saying it does not comment on individual cases. Lawyer Greg Barns of the Prisoner's Legal Service said those involved in creating fictitious case law references in the Neill-Fraser case should resign or be dismissed.
