Generative AI and the possibility of legal liability for stupidification.
I'm a doctor, I'm the opposite of an expert in the law, and I suspect this is a daft question.
There's at some evidence that using generative AI makes us stupider (I'll try to link to a paper I found -
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/15/1/6?ref=newcanaanunplugged.org
- that's not meant to be the substance of my argument, it's the first paper I found in my one minute literature review and I'm using it as an example).
Now if I prescribe a drug I'm liable for the consequences. If those consequences were previously unknown, I imagine I'm relatively safe, but if it can be demonstrated they were known at the time, then I am (rightfully) liable. Same thing if someone bakes a pie that gives someone food poisioning or uses cheap concrete so a building falls down.
So - if there's at least an association between generative AI use and adverse cognitive and emotional consequences, then is there liability? If so who?
Can I seek compensation because my attention span is in the nanoseconds?
Could there be a class action on behalf of people who read Dune in high school and now they can't finish a short story?
Will there be billboards saying "Can't remember shit? You could be entitled to compensation" but the word "compensation" is crossed out and replaced with "free money"?
Can I sue if I use AI to write my essays and I get stupider? And if I can - how do we do it? Who is this Claude guy, where does he even live, why does he only have one name?
As you can tell, I don't even know if this is a serious question. But there are a lot of unknowns involved in this, and sommoe of the research is alarming.
(It could be argued I don't have to use generative AI but if I was in a situation where my workplace mandated it, would that change things? And it could be argued that I am a responsible adult who can make my own choices but does anyone have any duty to disclose these risks? And is the situation different for me and my (imaginary) eleven year old granddaughter?