Since public access to generative AI tools became widespread, federal civil litigation has seen a marked increase in pro se (self-represented) plaintiffs. This paper analyzes that shift using ~2.8 million filings, asking whether the post-GenAI period is associated not only with more pro se filings, but also with detectable changes in complaint text, litigation outcomes, and the composition of pro se litigants. Using civil filing data from FY2008-2025, we find that the federal civil pro se plaintiff rate rose from 11.33% pre-GenAI to 16.94% post-GenAI, a 5.61 percentage-point increase that persists after trend and covariate-adjusted robustness checks. We then focus on Civil Rights and Other Statutory cases, where the increase is especially pronounced, and link case metadata to pro se complaints. Drawing on stylometric AI detection indicators, we develop an interpretable measure of AI-consistent drafting. Against a threshold calibrated to the pre-GenAI baseline, the net AI-flagged share is 13.9% of post-GenAI non-form complaints. Analysis of the AI-flagged complaints shows that they are more citation-dense, disproportionately associated with first-time rather than repeat filers, and geographically unevenly distributed. This composition pattern suggests that AI-consistent drafting is not merely a repeat-filer phenomenon; it also includes a modest, suggestive increase in name-inferred female plaintiffs. We find no evidence of improved win rates; in fact, AI-flagged complaints are more likely to be dismissed and to terminate at earlier procedural phases. These findings raise new questions about access to justice and court screening burdens, and sharpen the distinction between legal formality and legal efficacy.

翻译：自公众广泛使用生成式人工智能工具以来，联邦民事诉讼中诉讼当事人（自我代理原告）的数量显著增加。本文利用约280万份案件材料分析这一变化，探讨生成式人工智能时代是否不仅与更多自我代理案件相关，还伴随起诉状文本、诉讼结果及当事人构成的显著变化。通过分析2008-2025财年民事案件数据，我们发现联邦民事诉讼中自我代理原告比例从生成式人工智能前的11.33%上升至生成式人工智能后的16.94%，增幅达5.61个百分点，且在调整趋势与协变量后的稳健性检验中仍保持稳定。我们重点聚焦民权及其他法定诉讼案件（此类案件增幅尤为突出），并将案件元数据与自我代理起诉状相关联。借助文体测定AI检测指标，我们构建了一个可解释的AI疑似起草比例度量标准。针对生成式人工智能前基线校准的阈值，非格式化起诉状中AI标记的净占比为13.9%。对AI标记起诉状的分析显示，此类文书引用密度更高，与首次起诉者而非重复起诉者存在显著关联，且地理分布不均。这一构成模式表明，AI疑似起草并非仅局限于重复起诉者现象，其中还包含一个虽微弱但具暗示性的女性原告比例增长（基于姓名推断）。我们未发现胜诉率提升的证据；事实上，AI标记起诉状更易被驳回且更早终结于诉讼程序初期阶段。这些发现对司法可及性与法院案件筛选负担提出了新问题，并明确了法律形式性与法律效力之间的界限差异。