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Canadian fiddle player Ashley MacIsaac has launched a civil lawsuit against Google after the organisation allegedly falsely identified him as a sex offender in an AI<\/a>-generated summary.<\/p>\n The three-time Juno award-winner claimed that Google was liable for the \u201cforeseeable republication\u201d of its AI-generated overview feature<\/a>. <\/p>\n The claim filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice alleged that the online giant published defamatory claims that he had been convicted of multiple criminal offences, including \u201cthe sexual assault of a woman, internet luring involving a child with the intention of sexually assaulting the child, and assault causing bodily harm,\u201d as per The Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n The lawsuit also says that MacIsaac had been listed on the national sex offender registry for life, a claim that is also not founded in truth.<\/p>\n MacIsaac\u2019s lawsuit posits that \u201cAs the creator and operator of the AI overview, Google is also liable for injuries and losses arising from the AI overview\u2019s defective design.\u201d<\/p>\n Therefore, the musician has moved to sue Google for $500,000 in general damages, $500,000 in aggravated damages, and $500,000 in punitive damages.<\/p>\n As per The Canadian Press<\/a>, the fiddler shared that this mistake led to a \u201ctangible fear\u201d in his life.<\/p>\n He shared, \u201cI feared for my own safety going on stage because of what I was labelled as. And I don\u2019t know how long this will follow me.\u201d<\/p>\n The fiddler first heard of the spreading misinformation when the Sipekne\u2019katik First Nation called a show in December due to complaints they had received from members of the public reading the AI summary of his life and career.<\/p>\n However, it didn\u2019t take long for the truth to come to light; the Sipekne\u2019katik First Nation later issued a public apology to MacIsaac, saying, \u201cDecisions were based on incorrect information generated through an AI-assisted search<\/a>, which mistakenly associated you with offences unrelated to you.\u201d<\/p>\n They added, \u201cWe deeply regret the harm this caused to your reputation and livelihood.\u201d<\/p>\n MacIsaac still hasn\u2019t received an apology from Google for the error. <\/p>\n He addresses this in the lawsuit, writing, \u201cIf a human spokesperson made these false allegations on Google\u2019s behalf, a significant award of punitive damages would be warranted. Google should not have lesser liability because the defamatory statements were published by software that Google created and controls.\u201d<\/p>\n
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