Canadian artist ends legal action against Google after its AI wrongly labeled him a sex offender
Google’s AI Overviews strikes again.
Ashley McIssac by Rene Johnston/Toronto Star via Getty Images
- Ashley MacIsaac ended his defamation lawsuit against Google after its AI Overview falsely labeled him a sexual offender.
- MacIsaac had sought $1.5 million, saying the false AI-generated claims damaged him; he gave no reason for withdrawing.
- Other public figures, including Robby Starbuck, have also accused Google’s AI tools of producing defamatory false statements.
- The case highlights broader risks from AI search summaries, which can spread false information and harm reputations.
Canadian fiddle player Ashley MacIsaac has pulled out of a defamation suit against Google after the tech company's AI overview falsely labeled him a sexual offender.
MacIsaac, a Juno award-winning musician, filed a civil lawsuit in February, claiming that Google’s AI-powered summarization tool had misrepresented him as a convicted sex offender.
Google’s AI Overviews falsely stated that MacIsaac had been imprisoned for a series of serious offenses involving sexual assault, assault causing injury, and grooming a child.
The original lawsuit sought $1.5 million in damages from Google for the impact that the hallucination had on MacIsaac.
However, a notice of discontinuance was filed, which moved to end MacIsaac’s legal action against Google.
The 51-year-old Canadian fiddler gave no explanation as to why he ceased pursuing legal action, according to CBC.
MacIsaac isn’t the only public figure who’s been defamed by Google.
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck sued Google over allegedly defamatory AI-generated statements that he was a rapist, a child predator, and had ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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Google’s AI Overviews has always hallucinated
Various incidents involving Google and false information have cropped up recently.
Notably, Google displayed false information that OpenAI chief Sam Altman was dead, after users “vandalized” a Wikipedia article.
Google’s AI Overviews, a summarization tool built into Google’s search engine, like most AI tools, can hallucinate.
Last year, Google’s AI Overviews wrongly claimed an Airbus A330 was involved in the fatal Air India crash, when it was actually a Boeing 787.
Another instance involving a Japanese textile wholesaler, which Google claimed was bankrupt and had “ceased operations.”
This has been going on for quite some time, seeing as Google’s overview telling pregnant women it was ok to smoke and telling users it was perfectly healthy to eat rocks.
