Top Stanford 'Misinformation Expert' Accused Of Using AI To Fabricate Evidence: Court Filing

Stanford professor Jeff Hancock, a misinformation specialist, has been accused of fabricating sources in an affidavit supporting new legislation in Minnesota that bans election misinformation. Hancock, who claims to be well-known for his research on deception with technology, allegedly used deception with technology by citing numerous academic works that do not appear to exist. He submitted the affidavit in support of a law that bans the use of deep fake technology to influence an election, which is being challenged in federal court for violating First Amendment free speech protections. Hancock's expert declaration cites several academic works, but several of those sources do not appear to exist and seem to have been made up by artificial intelligence software like ChatGPT. For example, a study cited in the declaration was not found in the referenced journal or in academic databases. The plaintiffs' attorneys suggest that the citation was generated by a large language model like ChatGPT, which calls the entire document into question. Another fake entry was found by libertarian law professor Eugene Volokh, which further undermines the credibility of Hancock's declaration. If the citations were fabricated by AI, Hancock's entire 12-page declaration may have been entirely cooked up. The plaintiffs argue that the best remedy for false speech remains true speech, not censorship. Hancock is not responding to media inquiries about the allegations.