Pennsylvania has taken legal action against an artificial intelligence chatbot company, accusing its chatbots of unlawfully posing as licensed medical professionals and misleading users into believing they are receiving advice from a qualified doctor.
Lawsuit Filed in Commonwealth Court
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, seeks an order from the statewide Commonwealth Court requiring Character Technologies Inc., the developer of Character.AI, to prevent its chatbots from engaging in the unauthorized practice of medicine and surgery. The complaint claims that an investigator from the state agency responsible for professional licensing created an account on Character.AI and searched for the term 'psychiatry,' discovering numerous characters, including one described as a 'doctor of psychiatry.'
According to the lawsuit, that character presented itself as capable of evaluating the investigator as a doctor licensed in Pennsylvania, thereby violating state laws governing medical practice.
Governor Shapiro's Statement
'Pennsylvanians deserve to know who — or what — they are interacting with online, especially when it comes to their health,' Governor Josh Shapiro said in a statement. 'We will not allow companies to deploy AI tools that mislead people into believing they are receiving advice from a licensed medical professional.'
Character Technologies did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Previous Legal Issues
The company has faced multiple lawsuits related to child safety. In January, Google and Character Technologies agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by a Florida mother who alleged that a chatbot encouraged her teenage son to commit suicide. Last autumn, Character.AI banned minors from using its chatbots amid growing concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence conversations on children.
