In response to reports that MyCity may be providing false, incorrect and misleading information, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has come out to defend it. For those who don’t know, the New York City government recently introduced the MyCity AI chatbot to help business owners with their questions.
New York Mayor Defends Controversial AI Chatbot Against Accusations of Misleading Instructions
It aims to help business owners who need continuous access to information and guidance. However, an investigation by The Markup, with the support of local news agencies Documented and The City, found a number of instances where it gave incorrect legal advice.
For example, the bot incorrectly claimed that landlords can discriminate against tenants based on income and that employers can collect some of their service provider’s tips; both practices are illegal in New York.
Like other AI models driven by Microsoft’s Azure AI big language models, MyCity has a tendency to provide inaccurate or misleading information. Accordingly, Mayor Adams acknowledged faults with the tool, saying, “It’s off in some areas,” but he defended its overall purpose.
By nature, he said, this type of technology needs to prove itself in real-life settings to highlight problems and their solutions. However, further investigation revealed that the attempts failed because it continued to make false claims such as “businesses no longer accept cash payments,” which is against New York law.
MyCity’s AI could prove to be ineffective, so more dialogues with lawyers will be needed
Andrew Riggie, who serves as director of the New York Hospitality Alliance, praised the city’s attempt to use AI-powered technology while stressing accuracy. Rigie argued that following such bots’ flawed recommendations could defeat its purpose and require more dialogue with lawyers.
Due to this controversy, the MyCity chatbot now includes a disclaimer warning users that responses may be unreliable or incomplete; therefore, they should not rely on them for legal or professional purposes.
This incident shows how difficult it is to implement artificial intelligence in public services, while highlighting the need for accuracy and reliability, guided by a legal framework. As efforts continue to improve the MyCity chatbot, various stakeholders are still looking for issues that may need to be addressed.
2024-04-05 21:13:05
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