The questions of the California bar exam have been made with AI

The California State Bar Association has revealed that some of the multiple-choice questions in the controversial February 2025 bar exam were developed with the help of artificial intelligence (using ChatGPT).

This fact has raised doubts about the validity and competence of the questions, especially since they were created by non-lawyers, which has caused astonishment and concern in the legal field.

Mary Basick, assistant to the dean at the School of Law at the University of California, Irvine, described the situation as “incredible.”

The future of law in California at stake amid AI and exam scandals

During the administration of the February exam, multiple technical issues affected the candidates, including crashes of the online testing platform, which prevented many of them from completing the exam. Additionally, applicants faced errors and delays that hindered the writing and saving of their responses.

In response to the irregularities, the California State Bar Association will request the Supreme Court to adjust the scores of the affected exams. For her part, Leah Wilson, executive director of the Association, expressed confidence in the validity of the questions, stating that they are capable of fairly assessing the legal competence of the candidates.

However, the reference to the use of artificial intelligence in the creation of questions has generated skepticism. Andrew Perlman, dean of the Suffolk University Law School, indicated that while the use of AI in developing questions could be useful, it is essential that the generated content be validated by subject matter experts.

An increase in the use of AI tools in the legal profession is expected, despite public distrust regarding their effectiveness.

Experts warn that, despite the current controversy, the competition among future lawyers could be affected if they do not utilize these new technologies, which opens a debate about the future of legal practice in California and beyond.