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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
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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.
