UK firefighter uses ChatGPT to win £40,000 court case against ex-girlfriend

A UK firefighter has won a court case to recover £40,000 he gave his former girlfriend to invest, after using ChatGPT for legal guidance and representing himself in court.

Craig Titchener, 40, won a £200,000 jackpot on a Winter Wonderlines lottery scratchcard in November 2019.

In 2022, he gave £40,000 to his then-girlfriend, Heather Douglas, 37, a psychiatric nurse, so that she could use her financial knowledge to invest the money on his behalf.

The court heard that the pair agreed to put the money into Premium Bonds and share any returns from the investment.

After their relationship ended, however, Douglas refused to return the money.

Titchener, a father of two and Heathrow firefighter, contacted legal experts but said solicitors had asked for fees that he could not afford.

He then turned to ChatGPT for help. The chatbot provided step-by-step guidance on completing the necessary forms so that he could present his own case at Central London County Court.

Titchener told the court that representing himself was a risk, but he had little to lose. He said he might not have won the case without ChatGPT.

Douglas, meanwhile, told the court that the £40,000 had been given to her as a gift.

She failed to prove that the money was a gift and did not provide her bank statements to the court. The court therefore ruled in Titchener’s favour last week.