Australian Politician Sues Claiming ChatGPT Falsely Accused Him of Crime

Legal Action Underway for Defamation

An Australian politician is reportedly pursuing legal action against the AI chatbot ChatGPT for spreading false information and damaging his reputation, Reuters reported on the 5th (local time).

Brian Hood, who serves as the mayor of Hepburn Shire, a small town near Melbourne, stated that ChatGPT provided incorrect information linking him to a bribery scandal involving the National Australia Bank (NPA) in the early 2000s, and announced plans to sue OpenAI.

If the lawsuit proceeds, Reuters noted it would be the first defamation case against an interactive AI program.

Mayor Hood’s legal team acknowledged that he did work at the NPA before being elected mayor in November last year, but emphasized that he did not commit any crimes. Additionally, the legal team sent a written notice to OpenAI on the 21st of last month requesting correction of the misinformation within a month, warning that failure to do so would result in a defamation lawsuit.

James Norton, a partner lawyer at the law firm Gordon Legal representing Mayor Hood, said, "This case will be groundbreaking in applying defamation law to new areas of information and communication technology (IT) such as artificial intelligence."