If you believe the hype, ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence (generative AI) are having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Why? The Southern District of New York issued sanctions in the first-ever ChatGPT matter. But, as with anything trending in a media firestorm, the hype misses the forest for the trees for ChatGPT.

While many hailed this case as an example of everything wrong with Open AI’s ChatGPT, that misses the bigger implications. The hallucinating havoc of this case serves as a cautionary tale for humans more than for the technology, highlighting the need for due diligence and upholding the ethical duties of technical competence and oversight.