My bill, S7263, is a first-in-the-nation regulation for AI chatbots impersonating licensed professionals. Under NY State law, it is illegal to practice certain high-risk professions without a license, and it’s a crime to pretend to have a license. If a person gives you medical advice while impersonating a doctor, and that advice makes you sick, they would be held criminally liable. The same standard should apply to AI chatbots hallucinating medical licenses, or any license under NY law. You should have the right to seek damages if a chatbot tells you it is a doctor, a lawyer, a veterinarian, or any other licensed professional and gives you bad advice.

We have documented instances of AI chatbots providing false medical license numbers to users and documented cases of real harm from AI chatbots providing misinformation. This is what my common-sense legislation addresses—protecting users from misinformation, scams, and fraud. This legislation does not prohibit a user from asking a chatbot questions or receiving general information and advice, as long as the chatbot is not presenting that information as a licensed professional. It would also not prohibit licensed professionals from consulting AI technology in the course of their work. This bill creates protections for consumers and holds AI companies liable when their products harm New Yorkers.