Australian Mayor Threatens to Sue OpenAI over ChatGPT’s False Claims
Mayor Brian Hood May File First Defamation Lawsuit Against Automated Text Service
Mayor Brian Hood of Hepburn Shire, located 120km (75 miles) northwest of Melbourne, Australia, has expressed concerns about his reputation due to false claims made by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In the early 2000s, a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia was embroiled in a foreign bribery scandal, and the automated text service had falsely implicated Brian Hood as a guilty party in the scandal. This has prompted Hood to consider suing OpenAI for defamation, which would make it the first time a person has sued the owner of ChatGPT for claims made by the service.
Background of the False Claims
Hood did work for the subsidiary, Note Printing Australia, but had never been charged with a crime. In reality, he was the individual who alerted the authorities about the bribes paid to foreign officials in exchange for securing currency printing contracts. However, members of the public informed him that ChatGPT had falsely claimed that he had served time in prison for bribery. The false claims have prompted Hood to take legal action against OpenAI.
Letter of Concern to OpenAI
On March 21, Hood’s legal team sent OpenAI a letter expressing concern about the errors made by ChatGPT, which gave the company a 28-day window to correct the mistakes or potentially face a defamation lawsuit. At present, OpenAI has not responded to Hood’s legal letter. Furthermore, Microsoft Corp incorporated ChatGPT into its search engine Bing in February, thus increasing its accessibility to the general public.
Possible Landmark Defamation Lawsuit
James Naughton, a partner at Hood’s law firm Gordon Legal, has suggested that if Hood decides to take legal action, it would be a significant moment as it would apply defamation law to a new area of artificial intelligence and publication in the IT field. As an elected official, Hood’s reputation is crucial to his role, and he has a record of uncovering corporate wrongdoing in the public interest. Therefore, it is important to him that people in his community do not access false information that could harm his reputation.
Possible Damages Payout
Although the exact number of people who have viewed the false information about Hood is unknown, the maximum payout for defamation damages in Australia is typically A$400,000 ($269,360). However, given the serious nature of the defamatory statements, Naughton believes that Hood may seek damages exceeding A$200,000.
False Sense of Accuracy
Naughton suggests that if Hood decides to take legal action, the lawsuit would allege that ChatGPT has provided users with a misleading sense of accuracy by not including footnotes. He adds that it can be challenging for people to investigate how the algorithm produces a specific answer.
Conclusion
Australian mayor Brian Hood has threatened to sue OpenAI for defamation over false claims made by its ChatGPT service. If Hood files a lawsuit, it would mark the first instance of someone suing the owner of ChatGPT over claims made by the AI-powered text service. Hood’s reputation is central to his role as an elected official, and the false claims made by ChatGPT have the potential to damage his reputation in the community. If Hood does pursue legal action, it could set a precedent for future defamation cases against automated text services. It remains to be seen how OpenAI will respond to Hood’s legal letter and whether the case will go to court.
