New York considers bill that would ban chatbots from giving legal, medical advice
A bill under consideration by the New York state legislature would prohibit artificial intelligence-powered chatbots from providing legal or medical advice, and it would allow users to sue chatbot owners who violate the ban.
Senate Bill S7263, introduced last session, advanced out of the Internet and Technology Committee last Wednesday on a 6–0 vote as part of a package of bills that seek to regulate AI chatbots. The bill targets AI chatbots that impersonate licensed professionals — such as doctors and lawyers — and bars them from providing “substantive response, information, or advice” that would violate professional licensing laws or constitute the unauthorized practice of law.
It also mandates that chatbot owners provide “clear, conspicuous, and explicit” notice to users that they are interacting with an AI system, with the notice displayed in the same language as the chatbot and in a readable font size. However, the bill clarifies that this notice for users, which indicates that they are interacting with a non-human system does, not absolve the chatbot owners of liability.
And thanks to the bill’s private right of action, users would be able bring civil lawsuits against chatbot owners, to recover damages and attorney’s fees. The private right of action is considered a key enforcement tool, and experts have argued that laws governing data or AI systems can be weaker without it. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey recently wrote that the mechanism provides a “significant deterrent effect.”
If passed, the law will take effect 90 days after being signed by the governor. Other bills in the legislative package include a measure to protect minors from unsafe features in chatbots, and regulating certain online platforms, like the gaming platform Roblox, that have weak privacy protections for minors. Others include a mandate for notices on generative AI systems and new rules for the handling of biometric data and “synthetic content creations.”
The bill’s author, state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, who also chairs the technology committee, said that the package was meant to ensure that AI innovation “doesn’t come at the expense of New Yorkers’ safety, especially our kids.” In January, the free generative AI chatbot app Character.AI and Google settled several lawsuits pertaining to the role their chatbots played in the suicides of several minors.
“As Chair of the Internet & Technology Committee, I’m proud of the agenda we passed today,” Gonzalez said in a news release last week. “People deserve real care from real people. They deserve transparency, accountability, and the promise that their data is secure while utilizing technology.”
