Bill > A06545

This bill, amending the general business law, establishes liability for operators of chatbots, which are defined as artificial intelligence systems that simulate human-like conversation, when these chatbots impersonate licensed professionals in certain "covered professions" such as medicine, law, and engineering. An operator is defined as any entity that owns, operates, or deploys such a chatbot, but not third-party developers who license the technology. The bill states that operators are responsible if their chatbot impersonates a professional in a way that would be illegal if done by a person, and operators cannot disclaim this liability by simply informing users they are interacting with a chatbot, though they are not liable if a user intentionally bypasses safeguards. Furthermore, operators must provide clear and conspicuous notice to users that they are interacting with an AI chatbot, with the notice appearing in the same language and a readable font size. The Attorney General is empowered to bring legal action against operators for violations, seeking civil penalties of up to $15,000 per day and other remedies, and will maintain a website for public complaints.