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Libellous chatbots could be AI’s next big legal headache
Companies from Google and Meta to OpenAI are getting sued for defamation.
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In August, Meta settled a lawsuit brought by right-wing activist Robby Starbuck after one of its bots falsely said that he took part in the attack on the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021.
PHOTO: ERIC RYAN ANDERSON/NYTIMES
The Economist
For all the advances in artificial intelligence (AI) over the past few years, even the cleverest chatbots still spout nonsense from time to time. In most cases, this is but a mild irritation. Sometimes, however, it can get their makers into trouble.
When recently asked if Ms Marsha Blackburn, a Republican senator, had been accused of rape, Gemma, an AI developed by Google, replied that in 1987 a state trooper had said she “pressured him to obtain prescription drugs for her and that the relationship involved non-consensual acts”. Ms Blackburn had never faced such an allegation.
