The judge referred to an English case involving Haringey Law Centre and Haringey Council, where legal action was raised against a lawyer who used a fake law as a defence.
In what is thought to be the first time the matter has arisen in Scots law, Sheriff MacRitchie said AI use had the potential to clog up valuable court time.
He wrote: “There was a degree of recklessness in the claimant delaying verifying that the references produced by artificial intelligence were genuine, until only after the relative submissions were lodged.
“There is a fine line in this instance between whether the claimant and its individual partners, even as lay persons, have shown contempt for the court by not reasonably checking that such references were genuine before using them in this manner, or otherwise.”
The sheriff dismissed the bid to recover the alleged rent arrears, adding the law states that the correct place to pursue the action is a specialist tribunal.
He added: “What this claim does highlight, is the dangers of a reckless reliance on artificial intelligence by any party without verifying that the same is genuine, and the potential for a party being found in contempt of court in circumstances such as these, even if done in good faith.”