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NYC's AI chatbot was caught telling businesses to break the law. The city isn't taking it down

An artificial intelligence-powered chatbot meant to help small business owners in New York City has come under fire for dispensing bizarre advice that misstates local policies and advises companies to violate the law.

Launched in October as a “one-stop shop” for business owners, the chatbot offers users algorithmically generated text responses to questions about navigating the city’s bureaucratic maze. In responses to questions posed Wednesday, the chatbot falsely suggested it is legal for an employer to fire a worker who complains about sexual harassment, doesn’t disclose a pregnancy or refuses to cut their dreadlocks. Scientists have long voiced concerns about the drawbacks of these kinds of large language models, which are trained on troves of text pulled from the internet and prone to spitting out answers that are inaccurate and illogical.

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