Current:Home > FinanceNYC’s AI chatbot was caught telling businesses to break the law. The city isn’t taking it down-LoTradeCoin
NYC’s AI chatbot was caught telling businesses to break the law. The city isn’t taking it down
View Date:2024-12-23 23:54:14
NEW YORK (AP) — An artificial intelligence-powered chatbot created by New York City to help small business owners is under criticism for dispensing bizarre advice that misstates local policies and advises companies to violate the law.
But days after the issues were first reported last week by tech news outlet The Markup, the city has opted to leave the tool on its official government website. Mayor Eric Adams defended the decision this week even as he acknowledged the chatbot’s answers were “wrong in some areas.”
Launched in October as a “one-stop shop” for business owners, the chatbot offers users algorithmically generated text responses to questions about navigating the city’s bureaucratic maze.
It includes a disclaimer that it may “occasionally produce incorrect, harmful or biased” information and the caveat, since-strengthened, that its answers are not legal advice.
It continues to dole out false guidance, troubling experts who say the buggy system highlights the dangers of governments embracing AI-powered systems without sufficient guardrails.
“They’re rolling out software that is unproven without oversight,” said Julia Stoyanovich, a computer science professor and director of the Center for Responsible AI at New York University. “It’s clear they have no intention of doing what’s responsible.”
In responses to questions posed Wednesday, the chatbot falsely suggested it is legal for an employer to fire a worker who complains about sexual harassment, doesn’t disclose a pregnancy or refuses to cut their dreadlocks. Contradicting two of the city’s signature waste initiatives, it claimed that businesses can put their trash in black garbage bags and are not required to compost.
At times, the bot’s answers veered into the absurd. Asked if a restaurant could serve cheese nibbled on by a rodent, it responded: “Yes, you can still serve the cheese to customers if it has rat bites,” before adding that it was important to assess the “the extent of the damage caused by the rat” and to “inform customers about the situation.”
A spokesperson for Microsoft, which powers the bot through its Azure AI services, said the company was working with city employees “to improve the service and ensure the outputs are accurate and grounded on the city’s official documentation.”
At a press conference Tuesday, Adams, a Democrat, suggested that allowing users to find issues is just part of ironing out kinks in new technology.
“Anyone that knows technology knows this is how it’s done,” he said. “Only those who are fearful sit down and say, ‘Oh, it is not working the way we want, now we have to run away from it all together.’ I don’t live that way.”
Stoyanovich called that approach “reckless and irresponsible.”
Scientists have long voiced concerns about the drawbacks of these kinds of large language models, which are trained on troves of text pulled from the internet and prone to spitting out answers that are inaccurate and illogical.
But as the success of ChatGPT and other chatbots have captured the public attention, private companies have rolled out their own products, with mixed results. Earlier this month, a court ordered Air Canada to refund a customer after a company chatbot misstated the airline’s refund policy. Both TurboTax and H&R Block have faced recent criticism for deploying chatbots that give out bad tax-prep advice.
Jevin West, a professor at the University of Washington and co-founder of the Center for an Informed Public, said the stakes are especially high when the models are promoted by the public sector.
“There’s a different level of trust that’s given to government,” West said. “Public officials need to consider what kind of damage they can do if someone was to follow this advice and get themselves in trouble.”
Experts say other cities that use chatbots have typically confined them to a more limited set of inputs, cutting down on misinformation.
Ted Ross, the chief information officer in Los Angeles, said the city closely curated the content used by its chatbots, which do not rely on large language models.
The pitfalls of New York’s chatbot should serve as a cautionary tale for other cities, said Suresh Venkatasubramanian, the director of the Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination, and Redesign at Brown University.
“It should make cities think about why they want to use chatbots, and what problem they are trying to solve,” he wrote in an email. “If the chatbots are used to replace a person, then you lose accountability while not getting anything in return.”
veryGood! (92873)
Related
- Bankruptcy judge questioned Shilo Sanders' no-show at previous trial
- Thousands got Exactech knee or hip replacements. Then, patients say, the parts began to fail.
- Amazon October Prime Day 2023: Save $120 on This KitchenAid Mixer
- Alex Jones, Ronna McDaniel potential witnesses in Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro’s Georgia trial
- 'He's driving the bus': Jim Harbaugh effect paying dividends for Justin Herbert, Chargers
- Suspect arrested after mother and son found shot to death inside burned home
- 'Always worried about our safety': Jews and Palestinians in US fearful after Hamas attack
- Food Network Star Michael Chiarello's Company Addresses His Fatal Allergic Reaction
- Jack Del Rio leaving Wisconsin’s staff after arrest on charge of operating vehicle while intoxicated
- Hollywood writers officially ratify new contract with studios that ended 5-month strike
Ranking
- Smithfield agrees to pay $2 million to resolve child labor allegations at Minnesota meat plant
- Kansas governor announces Juneteenth will be observed as a state holiday
- Former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice advises Republican leader against impeachment
- California-based Navy sailor pleads guilty to providing sensitive military information to China
- Joel Embiid injury, suspension update: When is 76ers star's NBA season debut?
- Orioles' Dean Kremer to take mound for ALDS Game 3 with family in Israel on mind
- Rookie sensation De'Von Achane to miss 'multiple' weeks with knee injury, per reports
- Bedbugs can’t really hurt you. But your fear of them might, experts say.
Recommendation
-
Engines on 1.4 million Honda vehicles might fail, so US regulators open an investigation
-
1 dead, 1 injured after Amtrak collides with SUV in Vermont Friday evening
-
NY congressman says he would support bill linking Ukraine and Israel aid
-
UEFA picks UK-Ireland to host soccer’s 2028 European Championship. Italy-Turkey to stage Euro 2032
-
Jack Del Rio leaving Wisconsin’s staff after arrest on charge of operating vehicle while intoxicated
-
Mother bear killed after charging 2 boys in Colorado; tranquilized cub also dies
-
Environmental groups ask EPA to intervene in an Alabama water system they say is plagued by leaks
-
Jimmy Kimmel brings laughs, Desmond Howard dishes on famous Heisman pose on ManningCast