Comment Re: How about no? (Score 1) 82
If he were to just do things without boasting how great he believes he is or how his idea is the best in history... then when something goes wrong it's much harder to point and laugh.
Recent legal rulings suggest yes, Google is legally responsible for false or defamatory claims made by its generative AI features.Historically, search engines were treated as neutral intermediaries that merely pointed to third-party websites.
However, courts are shifting their stance when it comes to AI.Key legal and industry developments regarding AI liability:
The "Googleâ(TM)s Own Words" Precedent: A regional court in Germany ruled that AI Overviews are not simply traditional search results. Because the AI synthesizes and re-structures information in its own voice, the court found that the resulting statements belong to Google.
Rejection of the "Verify Yourself" Defense: Google has frequently argued that users understand AI requires fact-checking and that source links are provided for verification. Courts have rejected this defense, stating that the ability of a user to double-check information does not absolve the company of liability for making false claims.
Loss of Safe Harbors: Traditional legal "safe harbors" that protect search engines from hosting third-party illegal content do not apply to AI-generated text, opening up avenues for defamation lawsuits.
Because studies show that the vast scale of AI results leads to millions of erroneous answers annually, experts heavily recommend independently cross-checking AI search summaries against original sources.If you are dealing with false information generated about your own business or person, I can provide information on:
How to use Google's designated feedback tools to report specific errors.
The steps involved in submitting a cease-and-desist or legal removal request.
Would you like information on how to dispute an incorrect result directly with the platform?
It wasn't until after all this that the disclaimer was listed.
An inclined plane is a slope up. -- Willard Espy, "An Almanac of Words at Play"