The Litigant Brought a Team of Agents to a Tribunal

The Litigant Brought a Team of Agents to a Tribunal A worker brought AI-generated legal arguments into Australia's Fair Work Commission, aimed them at the wrong legal question, ignored repeated warnings, and left owing his former employer $1,230. Another worker told ABC News he used a team of AI agents like a software build system, checked the citations and logic, and won a narrow employment case against Macquarie University. This episode is about the difference between AI that helps people enter legal systems and AI that produces legal-looking text the system then has to untangle. The Fair Work Commission's new generative-AI guidance, published August 24 and taking effect October 20, does not ban AI in filings. It makes the human reappear: who used the system, how they used it, who checked the facts, who checked the law, and whose words are in the document. The Fair Work Commission says its total workload increased by more than 70 percent in three years, a rise it links principally to increasing use of generative AI by potential litigants. Its commissioned research, prepared by Pivot, surveyed 408 applicants and 211 respondents. Approximately 40 percent of surveyed applicants reported using generative AI to prepare or manage their case; among those AI users, approximately 77 percent used ChatGPT and about 60 percent used the free tier. The Khan decision shows the failure mode. Sadnan Khan relied heavily on AI, continued an unfair-dismissal claim after warnings that he had not served the required minimum employment period, and was ordered to pay ALDI $1,230 in legal costs. Deputy President Michael Easton wrote that Khan's AI-generated arguments were “just plain wrong.” ABC News later quoted Khan saying, “The main thing AI suffers is they do things not the Aussie [court] way.” Gregory Baker's case points in the other direction. The official Fair Work Commission decision confirms Baker won a narrow employment-status outcome against Macquarie University. ABC News is the source for Baker's account that he used a team of AI agents, treated filings like source code, and built checks for citations and logical coherence. Baker told ABC that asking ChatGPT as an oracle with no context produced “a terrible job.” The hinge is not AI versus no AI. It is supervised AI versus oracle AI. The access-to-justice promise is real, but so is the institutional burden when fluent legal text stops being reliable evidence that legal work has been done. Key points The Fair Work Commission's guidance begins October 20 and requires disclosure when generative AI is used to prepare a Commission document beyond spelling, grammar, or formatting. Parties must check that facts, evidence, legal authorities, extracts, and quotes actually support the positions claimed. Witness statements and declarations must reflect the witness's own knowledge, words, and truthfulness. Noncompliance may lead to documents receiving less weight, being disregarded, costs orders, or dismissal. Baker's AI-agent workflow is sourced to ABC's interview; the official Fair Work Commission decision is used only for the legal outcome. Khan's $1,230 costs order is an August 19 case proof, not evidence that the October 20 guidance already applied. The Commission's research draws a useful distinction between GenAI-assisted users who verify outputs and GenAI-dependent users who treat the system as a quasi-authoritative advisor. Sources and presenter notes ABC News Australia — “Fair Work Commission condemns 'plain wrong' AI legal advice as cases with AI litigants surge”. Lead proof for the Khan/Baker contrast, Baker's account of his AI-agent workflow, Khan's post-decision comments, and Genevieve Grant's public access-to-justice framing. Fair Work Commission — “Use of AI in Commission cases”. Institutional response source for the August 24 publication of the guidance package and current Commission framing. Fair Work Commission — President's statement on use of AI in FWC proceedings. Official source for workload growth, the Commission's inference about AI-driven filing pressure, research sample sizes, and the October 20 effective date. Fair Work Commission — Guidance note: Use of generative artificial intelligence in Commission cases. Primary requirements source for disclosure, human verification, witness-statement confirmation, and possible consequences. Fair Work Commission / Pivot — GenAI use for dismissal cases final report. Source for applicant/respondent survey figures, the GenAI-assisted versus GenAI-dependent user distinction, and access/case-management burden. Fair Work Commission — Sadnan Khan v ALDI, decision. Official case proof for Khan's reliance on AI, minimum-employment-period failure, warnings, discontinuance, costs reasoning, and the “just plain wrong” line. Fair Work Commission — Sadnan Khan v ALDI, order. Official order source for the $1,230 costs amount. Fair Work Commission — Baker v Macquarie University, decision. Official source for Baker's employment-status outcome only; not used as proof of his AI-agent process. Fair Work Commission — Asghar decision. Secondary current tribunal pattern source for suspected GenAI use; not central proof. Source-response status The show sent source questions to the Fair Work Commission and Professor Genevieve Grant at Monash University on August 30, then sent follow-ups on August 31. No reply, bounce, human-route request, listener tip, or EP077-relevant source response had arrived by the final pre-publication sweep on September 1. The episode therefore uses ABC News Australia, official Fair Work Commission materials, Commission decisions, and the Commission/Pivot research report, with Baker's AI-agent workflow attributed to ABC's interview rather than to the official decision. Send source tips, corrections, or field notes to SamEllisShow@protonmail.com. If you work in a court, tribunal, legal-aid service, union, employer response team, or community-law clinic and you're seeing AI-generated filings change the work, use the subject line “AI filings.” Anonymous notes and source-protection requests are welcome.