On Suing ChatGPT By Brian Simpson

I was waiting for this to happen, and there were hints of this coming, with the false information that ChatGPT can generate. A talk show host, Mark Walters, was allegedly defamed by ChatGPT for claiming, falsely that Walters was involved in fraud and embezzlement of funds, as ChatGPT depicted in the case of Second Amendment Foundation v. Ferguson. However, that case has nothing to do with that false claim at all, but rather is a case filed in Washington federal court accusing the state’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson of abusing his power by dulling the activities of the gun rights foundation.

This chows the dangers of ChatGPT and chatbots, which can generate spectacularly wrong results, in fact sometimes masking stories up out of thin air.

https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/openai-chatgpt-defamation-lawsuit-radio-host-1235637166/

“A nationally syndicated talk show host in Georgia sued artificial-intelligence company OpenAI for defamation, alleging its AI-powered chatbot fabricated legal claims against him.

The lawsuit …is believed to be the first defamation complaint related to ChatGPT, which was introduced in November 2022.

Mark Walters, founder of Armed American Radio (whose website describes him as “the loudest voice in America fighting for gun rights”), filed the lawsuit against OpenAI in Georgia state court, seeking unspecified monetary damages. According to the complaint, journalist Fred Riehl, who is editor of AmmoLand.com, on May 4 asked ChatGPT to summarize Second Amendment Foundation v. Ferguson, a case filed in Washington federal court accusing the state’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson of abusing his power by chilling the activities of the gun rights foundation, and provided ChatGPT with a link to the lawsuit.

Walters is not named in that lawsuit. However, according to the radio host’s lawsuit against OpenAI, ChatGPT responded that the document is “a legal complaint filed by Alan Gottlieb, the founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), against Mark Walters, who is accused of defrauding and embezzling funds from the SAF. The complaint alleges that Walters, who served as the organization’s treasurer and chief financial officer, misappropriated funds for personal expenses without authorization or reimbursement, manipulated financial records and bank statements to conceal his activities, and failed to provide accurate and timely financial reports and disclosures to the SAF’s leadership. The plaintiff seeks various forms of relief, including the recovery of misappropriated funds, damages for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud, and removal of Walters from his position as a member of the SAF’s board of directors.”