Last month, a new client forwarded me a critical areas report that had been submitted to a county planner in preparation for a building permit. In reading the report, I was struck with its familiarity (since I write these all the time), yet found the hair to be crawling on the back of my neck.
There was something….”off”…. with this document……
It seemed to me a bit lacking in detail. Conclusions were made without sufficient justification. The formatting was not what I’m used to seeing. Outright incorrect data…with no preparer’s name at the end.
It was “good” enough to have me drop my guard…. but, the professional in me was unsettled.
Only when I expressed my concerns with the client did he confess that he had Artificial Intelligence (AI) write it for him.
My mind was racing. Were these AI documents being accepted by local jurisdictions? Did these regulators even recognize the difference between AI and legitimate professional work?
Thankfully, the client told me that the county rejected the report because it requires a human being to do the work.
Now, just yesterday, another potential client sent me a scope of services request that was good enough for me to judge it as legit – but it seemed like it was written by a person with limited knowledge of the environmental permitting process.
Assuming the client had written the SOC, I asked a lot of questions about details, for which the client had no answers.
My suspicions aroused, I asked if he had used AI to prepare the SOC – to which he confessed that he had.
This is the new world in which I must work. “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” I will definitely keep my eyes open from now on when evaluating documents in the future.
It is my expectation that local jurisdictions will continue to require reports to be written by human beings….not necessarily because AI cannot (or, will not) write reports with justifiable language, but because AI cannot be SUED if a project goes sideways.
I guess I never thought that my need for liability insurance would become the professional risk that keeps me employed.
Hmm. Maybe I should grumble less when insurance premiums are due.