- A proposed bill in New York would prohibit AI chatbots from providing medical or legal advice
- The legislation would allow users to sue companies if their chatbots pose as licensed professionals.
- Lawmakers say the move is intended to protect the public as artificial intelligence tools become more widely used.
AI chatbots have spent the last few years answering almost every type of question imaginable, but New York lawmakers are preparing to draw a firm line around at least a couple of conversation categories. A bill advancing in the state legislature would ban AI chatbots from providing legal or medical advice and allow users to sue the companies behind those systems if they cross that line.
The proposal, Senate Bill S7263, would apply to AI chatbots that imitate or impersonate licensed professionals, such as lawyers or doctors. The core of the bill applies the same principle to how people cannot practice law or medicine without proper AI licenses. That rule is intended to ensure that people receive guidance from trained professionals who can be held accountable for their advice.
If an AI chatbot responds in a way that effectively substitutes for authorized medical or legal advice, developers could be breaking the law. The bill, which includes other AI safety measures, recently passed the New York Senate Internet and Technology Committee with unanimous support.
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Chatbot providers would also need to clearly inform users that they are interacting with an AI system rather than a human professional. Even if a chatbot displays a warning that it is not a doctor or lawyer, that disclaimer would not protect the company from liability if the system still provides prohibited advice.
But it’s also part of a larger effort to regulate AI chatbots in New York. Other bills focus on protecting minors who interact with AI chatbots or strengthening transparency requirements for generative AI systems and synthetic media.
“People deserve real care from real people,” state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, who introduced the bill, said in a statement. “They deserve transparency, accountability and the promise that their data will be safe while they use technology.”
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To enforce the law, people could file civil lawsuits against companies whose AI chatbots violate the rule. Users could claim damages and recover legal fees if they can prove that a chatbot provided unauthorized professional advice.
When millions of people use AI chatbots to compose emails and answer questions on topics ranging from cooking to tax policy, it’s no surprise that many treat AI responses as genuine advice. That’s precisely the situation lawmakers hope to avoid in areas where mistakes could have serious consequences.
Educational explanations on general concepts would still be allowed. What lawmakers want to avoid is the scenario in which a chatbot confidently instructs someone how to treat a medical condition or interpret a legal contract. But there are always ambiguous situations. For example, a chatbot could explain the symptoms of a medical condition by summarizing publicly available information. However, the same explanation could influence a user’s health decisions, making it resemble medical advice in practice.
Despite those concerns, the broader trend toward AI regulation seems unlikely to slow. The growing influence of AI has led lawmakers to question whether the technology should face rules similar to those governing traditional professions.
Technology regulation often spreads from one jurisdiction to another. Laws enacted in large states often become models for similar legislation elsewhere. So for AI developers, the New York proposal offers a preview of the kinds of questions governments will increasingly ask that they don’t want AI chatbots to answer.
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