AI said “Objection. Overruled”
Matt V
April 25, 2025
AI LAW
The State Bar of California has confirmed it used AI to help write part of the multiple-choice section in the February 2025 bar exam , and it hasn’t gone down well.
A testing firm called ACS Ventures used AI to assist with 23 of the 171 scored questions.
Another 48 were pulled from a first-year law exam, and the remaining 100 came from Kaplan Exam Services.
Here’s what to know:
23 of 171 questions were AI-assisted
The court says it wasn’t told in advance
Law faculty say this raises big fairness concerns
The Supreme Court was not cc’d
After complaints from exam takers about technical issues and inconsistencies, the Bar now plans to ask the California Supreme Court to adjust scores.
The Bar says it was following the court’s advice to explore tools like AI to improve how exams are run. But the court says it only found out about the AI use this week.
Legal educators argue it’s a problem that people wrote AI-generated questions without legal training, and say it risks undermining the fairness of the exam.
They said fair trial, not trial by fire (from an algorithm).