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A Kelowna couple, who thought that artificial intelligence might help them win a strata dispute, has lost their case after the evidence they submitted didn't exist.

According to a Feb. 14 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, Robert and Michelle Geismayr launched a case against their strata corporation after it refused to retroactively approve alterations the previous owners had done to their condo at Big White.

The strata wanted the couple to correct the renovations so the condo could be rented out in its hotel pool as required.

In support of their argument, the couple submitted 10 court decisions where strata corporations had failed to force the removal of alterations.

The couple listed the source for the legal document as "Conversation with Copilot." Copilot is Microsoft's artificial intelligence program and didn't perform well.

However, the Tribunal found that nine of the 10 cases didn't exist.

"These cases have the parties’ names and the years published, but no legal citation," the Tribunal ruled.

The Tribunal said the cases were "hallucinations" whereby artificial intelligence generates false or misleading results.

Of the one case that did exist, none of it was related to the issue at hand.

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Had the couple done their homework – or paid a lawyer – they would have found multiple cases that ruled the strata owners can't have changes retroactively approved.

"The state of the law is very different than what Copilot reported," the Tribunal ruled, citing three cases that went against what the couple wanted.

In February 2024, a Vancouver lawyer was ordered to pay court costs, to the tune of several thousand dollars, after she unintentionally submitted fake cases generated by ChatGPT in a family dispute. The case is thought to be the first in Canada.

"As this case has unfortunately made clear, generative AI is still no substitute for the professional expertise that the justice system requires of lawyers," BC Supreme Court Justice David Masuhara said in his ruling.

In the Big White strata case, the couple argued they were being treated significantly unfairly by the strata for not approving the renos the previous owner had done.

However, the Tribunal dismissed their argument siding with the strata corporation that said approving the renos would set a precedent.

"I find that the Geismayrs did not have a reasonable expectation that the strata would retroactively approve the strata lot’s alterations. The Geismayrs purchased the strata lot knowing that the local district had issued a stop work order and the strata had refused to approve the alterations," the Tribunal ruled.

Ultimately, it dismissed the case.

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