Review before it goes out

Your name is on the message, so check facts, tone and commitments before anything AI-drafted is sent.

"The AI wrote it" isn't a defence

In 2023 two New York lawyers filed a brief citing court cases that didn't exist; ChatGPT had invented them. The judge said there was nothing inherently improper in using AI, but that the rules give lawyers a gatekeeping role to ensure what they file is accurate, and fined them $5,000. The same principle applies to a m…

Polish makes us trust too much

Decades of research on automation bias show that people over-rely on automated aids: they miss errors the aid didn't flag, and follow its wrong suggestions. A review of that research found the effect hits experts as well as novices and isn't easily trained away. A polished draft invites exactly this.

What to check, every time

Facts: names, numbers, dates, prices, links. Fluent text can be invented.Commitments: did the draft promise something you haven't decided?Tone: AI suggestions tend to sound more positive than normal conversation. Is that how you'd say it to this person?Fit: does it answer what they actually asked?

Know where it's weak

Remember the jagged frontier from the first lesson: the consultants who used AI on the task outside its strengths were 19 percentage points less likely to be right. The drafts to read most carefully are the ones on unusual or high-stakes topics.

The short version

Whoever sends the message is responsible for it.Polish breeds over-trust; treat a confident draft as a reason to check.Check facts, commitments, tone and fit before sending.Read hardest on unusual or high-stakes messages.

Try it in Kanvo

When the assistant drafts a reply, it lands in the conversation's box with Nothing is sent. You edit it there. Read it as if someone else wrote it, which they did. For a quick fact check, use the message's ⋯ → Ask Kanvo → What was decided?

Sources

Reports the court's finding that using AI is not inherently improper but lawyers have a gatekeeping role for accuracy, and the $5,000 sanction.