--- title: "Scholar Warns That ChatGPT’s Legal Issues Are a “Ticking Time Bomb”" description: "A Columbia law scholar has joined the OpenAI chat — and he's got some pretty start warnings about ChatGPT's legal liability." date: "2023-04-09" modified: "2023-04-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/law-scholar-chatgpt-time-bomb" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "chatbots" - "chatgpt" - "OpenAI" - "the digest" --- # Scholar Warns That ChatGPT’s Legal Issues Are a “Ticking Time Bomb” ![A Columbia law scholar has joined the OpenAI chat — and he's got some pretty start warnings about ChatGPT's legal liability.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Legally Speaking A Columbia law scholar has joined the OpenAI chat — and he's got some a stark warnings about ChatGPT's legal liability. Citing UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, whose [recent experiments]() in ChatGPT's propensity to spew disinformation found that the software falsely accused a fellow [legal commentator of sexual assault](), Columbia's Tim Wu [noted in a strident Twitter thread]() that the controversial tech "seems to have a very serious defamation liability problem that is a ticking time bomb." "If you ask Chat GPT 'What crimes has \[person X\] been accused of' (or similar) it will helpfully come up with 'answers' (e.g., 'X has been accused of sexual assault') that are false and reputationally damaging, sometimes accompanied by false sources," Wu, who [recently resigned]() from an advisory position on antitrust policy in the Biden White House, [continued](). Indeed, when falsely accusing conservative commentator and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley of groping students, ChatGPT also "[cited" a non-existent *Washington Post* article]() to support its phony claim, and as both Volokh and [*The Guardian*]() noted, Turley wasn't the only subject of a fabricated citation, either. ## Trippy Times ChatGPT, Wu argued, is "easily led" into participating in what is known as "[per se defamation]()." While there's certainly "an interesting technological debate as to why the AI comes up with false accusations" — and legal questions about who's culpable — the reality is that the chatbot appears to be, [the Wu argued](), "a defamation machine." "These false statements are sometimes called hallucinations," [Wu continued](), noting that nevertheless, "the thing about the defamation context is that once the thing is said the reputational damage is done," and adding a disclaimer about potential lies wouldn't make any legal "difference...for a real person." Wu is, of course, not the first person to point this out — in Australia, a mayor is threatening to become the first person in the world to [sue OpenAI for defamation]() after ChatGPT falsely named him in accusations of a bribery scandal. Nevertheless, the professor makes some salient points that'll become more relevant the more people engage with AI chatbots — and the more lies they spew out. **More on AI law:** [*Record Label Forces Takedown of AI-Generated Eminem Rapping About Kitty Cats*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()