On 26 November 2025, students and faculty of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Law participated in a guest lecture delivered by renowned Canadian lawyer and former government prosecutor of the Province of Ontario, Oksana Romanov. The topic of the lecture — “AI Hallucinations in the Legal Context: Current Trends in Canada” — sparked considerable interest, as the issue of responsible use of artificial intelligence is becoming one of the key challenges for legal professionals worldwide.

During the lecture, Ms. Romanov explained the nature of AI hallucinations — fabricated or inaccurate court decisions and legal citations that may appear when using generative models. She emphasized that such errors have already resulted in serious professional consequences for Canadian lawyers.

Using concrete examples from the Province of Ontario — the decisions R. v. Chand, 2025 ONCJ 282 and Ko v. Li, 2025 ONSC 2965 — the speaker demonstrated how courts respond to the use of fictitious precedents. In these cases, judges not only pointed out the inadmissibility of relying on unverified sources but also established new requirements for verifying the authenticity of legal citations.

Special attention was devoted to the ethical aspects of AI use, the duty of technological competence, and the rules of the Law Society of Ontario that regulate lawyers’ work with emerging technologies.

Participants received the speaker’s presentation, a selection of materials from Law360 Canada, full texts of the court decisions, and the “Ontario Lawyer’s Checklist for AI Output Review,” which will serve as a useful tool in their future professional activities.

The event provided an important opportunity for law students to familiarize themselves with the real challenges faced by the global legal community amid the rapid expansion of generative artificial intelligence. The lecture underscored the importance of adhering to professional standards, maintaining technological literacy, and using modern digital tools responsibly.