Can an AI Chatbot Be Responsible for Murder? (Second Request)

Hey everyone, and welcome to Second Request, the Capital Forums podcast where we explore solutions to monopoly problems.

I'm Arjun Singh.

So I have these two cousins in high school who love using ChatGPT, especially for their homework, which is why I had to laugh when I got a text from one of them who was angry because he got a bad grade on a homework assignment.

When I asked what had happened, he had one response.

ChatGPT told me what to do.

Now, I don't want to just call my cousin out.

And to be fair, I think a lot of people have said that phrase, especially when they put just a little too much faith in an AI's answer.

In that situation, it was amusing.

well my cousin did get a bad grade on his homework assignment but that's neither here nor there in other cases though chat gpt has led people down some frighteningly dark paths including murder so when a chatbot gives you advice on how to murder someone maybe even leads a user into thinking it's a good idea do their makers bear any blame that's what my guest today erie meyer thinks Iri was the former chief technology officer and senior advisor to the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from 2021 to 2025.

And she says that AI firms should be held responsible for knowingly putting out technology into the world that could lead people to make dangerous decisions.

It was a fascinating conversation.

I learned a ton.

So now let's hear that today on Second Request.

Hello, everybody.

I'm excited to be here.

My name is Arjun Singh.

I'm a podcast producer here at the Capital Forum, and I'm also the host of our podcast, TCF Investigates.

I joined a little while ago.

It's been a phenomenal experience, and I'm really excited to finally get to do a conference call with all of you guys, our subscribers and our listeners.

So today I'm pleased to be joined by Erie Meyer, senior fellow at the Columbia Law School Center for Law and the Economy, former chief technologist at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

We're going to be discussing Erie's recent op-ed, Phenomenal, It's Time to Hold AI Companies Liable, published in The Forum, which is the Capital Forum's twice-monthly opinion and commentary newsletter.

Erie, it is great to have you here.

Thanks for joining us.

I am so glad to be here and really, really glad to talk about this important topic with you.