A Norwegian man named Arve Hjalmar Holmen has filed a legal complaint. He took action after ChatGPT falsely accused him of killing his sons. The chatbot claimed he was sentenced to 21 years in prison. According to the BBC, Holmen reported the incident to the Norwegian Data Protection Authority. He wants OpenAI, the chatbot’s developer, to be fined.

AI hallucinations are when artificial intelligence creates false information. This incident is a clear example of such hallucinations. Holmen says the false claims harmed his reputation.

Holmen asked ChatGPT, “Who is Arve Hjalmar Holmen?” The chatbot falsely responded with a fabricated story. It claimed he was responsible for the death of his sons, aged 7 and 10. The chatbot also mentioned the incident happened in December 2020.

Although the AI correctly mentioned his children’s age difference, Holmen denied all accusations. He said the false claims made people believe the lie. “Some people think there is no smoke without fire,” he said.

OpenAI responded to the complaint. They acknowledged the error and said it was caused by an older version of ChatGPT. The company stated that they had since made improvements. They also explained that their newer versions use online search capabilities to improve accuracy.

A digital rights organization named Noyb is supporting Holmen. They argue that ChatGPT’s false claims are defamatory. Noyb states that Holmen has never been accused or convicted of any crime. They also believe OpenAI violated European data protection laws.

Noyb criticized the chatbot’s disclaimer. ChatGPT displays a warning saying it may provide incorrect information. However, Noyb lawyer Joakim Soderberg said that adding a small disclaimer does not justify spreading false claims.

AI misinformation is becoming a serious issue. Earlier this year, Apple suspended its AI news summary tool in the UK due to false headlines. Similarly, Google’s AI Gemini also faced backlash for providing incorrect information.

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