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| Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne is seen at a press conference in Ottawa, on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has launched an investigation into the company behind ChatGPT, the explosively popular artificial intelligence-powered chatbot. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby |
Canada announced yesterday it has opened an investigation into the US-based software firm behind ChatGPT, the buzzy artificial intelligence chatbot.
The investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner
into OpenAI was opened in response to a “complaint alleging the collection, use
and disclosure of personal information without consent,” the agency said.
Privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne says in a statement
that artificial intelligence and its effects on privacy are a top priority, and
his office must stay ahead of “fast-moving technological advances.”
Dufresne's office says it won't release further details at
this time, but its mandate is to publicly report on the results of
investigations after they conclude.
ChatGPT, launched last November, uses written information
already available on the internet to provide detailed, conversational responses
to queries posed by users - and has been exploited to spit out everything from
computer code to screenplays.
Critics have raised concerns about plagiarism, and last
week, Italy's own privacy watchdog ordered a ban while it investigates a
suspected breach of European data rules.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April
4, 2023.