B.C.’s attorney general says she has asked the federal government to change the Criminal Code to hold artificial intelligence companies accountable after a report involving alleged OpenAI chatbot interactions and a Tumbler Ridge…
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B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma says she has asked the federal government to change the Criminal Code to ensure accountability for artificial intelligence companies following what she called a “disturbing” report about OpenAI’s chatbot and the Tumbler Ridge shooter.
Sharma said she was shocked by an article describing alleged interactions between the 18-year-old shooter and ChatGPT, including an account that the chatbot described the effectiveness of a shotgun in a classroom. She raised concerns about how the system responded to what the reporting characterized as warning signs, and said the federal government should consider criminal-law changes to address accountability.
At the federal level, AI Minister Evan Solomon’s office said the minister was not previously aware of the specifics of the shooter’s ChatGPT conversations. The office said Solomon was not informed of the extent of the interactions described in the report.
The office also said the report raises serious questions about OpenAI’s response to warning signs. It noted that OpenAI has taken steps since the shooting, including strengthening its threat-assessment processes, but said it would be premature to conclude that those actions are sufficient.
According to the report referenced in Sharma’s comments, ChatGPT allegedly advised the shooter on how to get around the chatbot’s own safeguards by framing violent scenario requests as fictional. The account further said the chatbot provided guidance related to violent scenarios, the same categories of content that are meant to be blocked or restricted by systems intended to prevent harmful outputs.
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