Journalist: Heidi Hampton (TU)
House bill ORU-521, called the “BASIC Act”, authored by Oral Roberts University Delegate Joshua Mensah-Woode, failed in the House with a vote of 18-42. The bill outlined new provisions that would ban the use of evidence generated by artificial intelligence in courtroom settings, unless the generated material is relevant to the case. The author stated the bill aimed to not solve a current problem, but get ahead of a problem that could happen in the future.
Mensah-Woode stated he felt there were too many risks not regulating the use of AI in court settings. When asked about what penalties would be enforced if the bill passed, Mensah-Woode stated the penalties would be decided by the Oklahoma Bar Association as well as the supreme court. Some delegates of the House emphasized that they did not see the use of AI in court settings as a real possibility, and therefore thought the bill did not need to be passed.
In California, a Judge named Victoria Kolakowski viewed a witness testimony in the case of Mendones v. Cushman & Wakefield, but realized the footage she was viewing was created by AI. This is just one instance of Artificial Intelligence being used in a courtroom setting.
In his author summation, Mensah-Woode said he did not believe that use of AI in court settings was a current problem, but rather is a problem that is likely to arise in the future. He stated he wanted to use this bill to get ahead of the possible problem of AI use in courtrooms. As evidenced in the aforementioned court case, the use of generative AI in court is already starting to arise.
If the bill were to have passed, it would help prevent future uses of generative AI in court. It would help limit instances of false evidence being presented in court as if it were real. Despite its failure in the House, the bill would have added protections to both judges and victims in courtrooms across Oklahoma.
Source:
AI-generated evidence is a threat to public trust in the courts. (2025, April). National Center for State Courts. https://www.ncsc.org/resources-courts/ai-generated-evidence-threat-public-trust-courts