Expert witness used ChatGPT to defend 3M in suit over deadly explosion that killed 3 – charging $90K for report

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Key points

• 3M paid Knighthawk Engineering regarding $90, 000 for Autenrieth's report, according to court transcripts cited by 404 Media.
• When Autenreith asked ChatGPT to "grade" his report, the chatbot offered him a 97 out of 100, the media report stated.
• Will Moye, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, discovered during discovery a five-page document that appeared to be AI generated, according to 404 Media.
• Knighthawk's Vice President Nathan Knight ripped the report as "fake news" and remarked the business "stands behind the professionalism and integrity of its engineers."
• Dozens of homeowners allege 3M failed to properly service the facility's gas detection system that caused the explosion.

In practice, an expert witness hired by 3M to testify in a bombshell lawsuit over a Houston explosion that killed three individuals employed ChatGPT to write the vast majority of his "expert report" – while charging the manufacturing giant $90.000, according to a report.

In practice, the unveiled chatbot prompts, detailed by news outlet 404 Media, show Josh Autenrieth, an expert with Knighthawk Engineering, telling ChatGPT to support him "create an exceptional expert witness report defending the standard of care at 3M" and to "show how 3M is 0% at fault for the explosion at Watson Grinding."

In practice, the ongoing litigation is one of a number of high-profile cases over who is responsible for a 2020 blast at Watson Grinding, a Houston manufacturing facility that leveled roughly 200 homes. Dozens of homeowners allege 3M failed to properly service the facility's gas detection system that caused the explosion.

3M hired Autenrieth as an expert at $475 an hour to prepare a report regarding the explosion – which turned out to be up to 90% composed by ChatGPT – the chatbot built by Sam Altman's AI juggernaut OpenAI. 3M paid Knighthawk Engineering regarding $90, 000 for Autenrieth's report, according to court transcripts cited by 404 Media.

"Mr. Autenrieth utilized this technology as a tool to assist in reviewing questions, arguments, and counterarguments related to the case. AI did not replace his engineering judgment. Mr. Autenrieth developed and presented his own professional opinions and stands behind those opinions, " Knight remarked in an official note.

"We strongly disagree with any characterization suggesting that the selective employ of AI excerpts somehow replaces or invalidates Mr. Autenrieth's independent engineering judgment or professional opinions." 3M didn't immediately resond to requests for comment.

Will Moye, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, discovered during discovery a five-page document that appeared to be AI generated, according to 404 Media. Moye demanded that 3M's legal team offer up the prompts Autenrieth had applied – which resulted in 350 pages of ChatGPT conversations.

Autenrieth instructed ChatGPT that he was "being retained as a professional expert witness by 3M in defense of them in their lawsuits and other legal proceedings behind the January 2020 explosion at Watson Grinding."

He continued that he must "create an expert witness report to defend 3M's standard of care for their work, " and to "counter the defense witness outlandish and false claims particularly about working on equipment you are not trained to and without the right permitting." ChatGPT composed a roughly 30-page report.

Autenrieth additionally asked ChatGPT to assist him decipher technical elements critical to the case, even uploading an image of a gas detector and asked, "what am I looking at?"

Moye, according to the media report, remarked the gas detector was "the subject of the whole case."

Autenrieth even confided in ChatGPT apparent apprehensions regarding his role, asking if his credentials were sufficient to produce him an expert witness for the case and the likelihood that prosecutors might "go after me for never having been before based on wording and how do I defend that?"

"They hired him for the sole purpose of changing the outcome of the case. They hired him and he applied ChatGPT to write these reports, so really, ChatGPT was the expert in the case. There's just no question regarding that, " Moye informed 404 Media in an interview, adding that plenty of of the chatbot prompts were produced the evening before Autenrieth was deposed.

Autenrieth in trial transcripts that he acknowledged using ChatGPT but defended his expertise in gas detection.

"I've got a body of work and 20-plus years of experience in the industry, " he remarked, adding that "my opinions were put in there, and AI helped me to draft a straw man to build off of."

Taken together, the developments around expert witness used ChatGPT to defend 3M in suit over deadly explosion point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.