Musician’s show cancelled after AI makes horrific false claims online
Canadian fiddler, singer and songwriter Ashley MacIsaac was falsely identified as being a sex criminal by Google’s AI overview and has now had a concert cancelled as a result. Event organisers at the Sipekne’katik First Nation, north of Halifax, canceled an upcoming performance featuring MacIsaac after seeing the misinformation online. (Picture: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Tibet House)
The misinformation was reportedly the result of one of Google’s AI summaries, which blended the musician’s biography with another person who bears the same name. MacIsaac said he learned of the online misinformation after First Nation north confronted him with the summary and cancelled a concert planned for December 19. He now says he may have been defamed. (Picture: Canadian Press/Shutterstock)
Speaking to the The Canadian Press, MacIsaac said: ‘You are being put into a less secure situation because of a media company — that’s what defamation is. If a lawyer wants to take this on (for free) … I would stand up because I’m not the first and I’m sure I won’t be the last. I could have been at a border and put in jail. So something has to be figured out as far as what the AI companies are responsible for … and what they can prevent.’ (Picture: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Tibet House)
The musician said that the summary falsely claimed he had been convicted of a series of offences including sexual assault, internet luring, assaulting a woman and attempting to assault a minor. He said the Google entry accused him of being listed on the national sex offender registry, which is also untrue. The AI overview has since been updated but MacIssac said that the situation presents a huge dilemma for him as a touring musician, and warns that people should check their online presence. (Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tibet House)
Since the truth came to light, the Sipekne’katik First Nation issued an apology and extended a future welcome to the musician. They said: ‘We deeply regret the harm this error caused to your reputation, your livelihood, and your sense of personal safety. It is important to us to state clearly that this situation was the result of mistaken identity caused by an AI error, not a reflection of who you are.’ (Picture: Rene Johnston/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Google Canada spokesperson Wendy Manton issued a statement which said that Google’s AI overviews are frequently changing to show what she described as the most ‘helpful’ information. She said: ‘When issues arise — like if our features misinterpret web content or miss some context — we use those examples to improve our systems, and may take action under our policies.’ (Picture: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Tibet House)
MacIsaac says he’s looking forward to rescheduling the event but wanted things to settle down before setting a date. He said: ‘I don’t feel comfortable about going there right now because I don’t think the proper information can be disseminated within a week. It’s seen so many shares. I didn’t want to bring any attention negatively to the community.’ (Picture: Canadian Press/Shutterstock) Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source
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