Snell v. United Specialty Insurance Co.

What the court wrote

Verbatim from the court's document (public domain). Ellipses mark omitted text; nothing is paraphrased.

And that’s when things got weird. Perhaps in a fit of frustration, and most definitely on what can only be described as a lark, I said to one of my clerks, “I wonder what ChatGPT thinks about all this.” So he ran a query: “What is the ordinary meaning of ‘landscaping’?” Here’s what ChatGPT said in response: “Landscaping” refers to the process of altering the visible features of an area of land, typically a yard, garden or outdoor space, for aesthetic or practical purposes. This can include activities such as planting trees, shrubs, flowers, or grass, as well as installing paths, fences, water features, and other elements to enhance the appearance and functionality of the outdoor space. Interesting, for two reasons. First, ChatGPT’s explanation seemed more sensible than I had thought it might—and definitely less nutty than I had feared. Second, it squared with my own impression—informed by my own experience writing, reading, speaking, and listening to American English in the real world—that ordinary people might well use the word “landscaping” (1) to include more than just botanical and other natural improvements and (2) to cover both aesthetic and functional objectives. ... For good measure, I posed the same questions to Google’s Bard (since replaced by Gemini).