An Australian mayor has threatened to sue the creator of ChatGPT after the artificial intelligence chatbot claimed he had served time in prison for bribery.
Brian Hood, the mayor of the Shire of Hepburn in Victoria, said he had been falsely accused of playing a part in a banking bribery scandal when working for Australia’s central bank.
He has sent a letter of concern to OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, in a legal step that could lead to a defamation case.
If it proceeds, it would be the first such case against the chatbot, which has become a viral sensation for its ability to answer questions and look up information with human-sounding answers.
Mr Hood had worked at a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia when he blew the whistle on a bribery scandal at banknote printing company Securency.
However, when asked about his role, ChatGPT responded that Hood had been charged with bribery offences in 2012 and pleaded guilty, serving more than two years in prison.
“According to ChatGPT, I was one of the offenders, that I got charged with all sorts of serious criminal offences. I was never charged with anything,” Mr Hood told ABC Australia.
