- Proposed New York bill would ban AI chatbots from providing legal or medical advice
- The legislation would allow users to sue companies if their chatbots pose as licensed professionals.
- Lawmakers say the measure aims to protect the public as AI tools become more widely used.
AI chatbots have spent the past few years answering almost every type of question imaginable, but New York lawmakers are preparing to draw a firm line around at least a few categories of conversation. A bill moving through the state Legislature would ban AI chatbots from providing legal or medical advice and allow users to sue the companies behind these 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 enforces the same principle that individuals cannot practice law or medicine without the appropriate AI licenses. This rule is intended to ensure that people receive advice from qualified professionals who can be held accountable for their advice.
If an AI chatbot responds in a way that effectively replaces approved legal or medical advice, developers could be breaking the law. The bill, which includes other AI security measures, recently passed the New York Senate Internet and Technology Committee with unanimous support.
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Chatbot providers should also clearly inform users that they are interacting with an artificial intelligence system rather than a human professional. Even if a chatbot displays a disclaimer that it is neither a doctor nor a lawyer, this disclaimer would not protect the company from liability if the system still provides prohibited advice.
But it’s also part of a broader 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 a promise that their data is secure when using technology.”
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To enforce the law, individuals could file civil lawsuits against companies whose AI chatbots violate the rule. Users could seek damages and recover legal costs if they successfully prove that a chatbot provided unauthorized professional advice.
With millions of people using AI chatbots to write emails and answer questions on topics ranging from cooking to tax policy, it’s no surprise that many treat the AI’s responses as real advice. This is precisely the situation that lawmakers hope to avoid in areas where mistakes could have serious consequences.
Educational explanations of general concepts would still be permitted. What lawmakers want to avoid is the scenario in which a chatbot confidently tells someone how to treat a health condition or interpret a legal contract. But there are always ambiguous situations. For example, a chatbot can explain the symptoms of a health problem by summarizing publicly available information. Yet the same explanation could influence a user’s health decisions, making it resemble medical advice in practice.
Despite these concerns, it seems unlikely that the broader trend to regulate artificial intelligence will slow down. The growing influence of AI has prompted lawmakers to question whether the technology should be subject to rules similar to those governing traditional professions.
Technology regulation often extends from one jurisdiction to another. Laws passed in large states often become models for similar laws elsewhere. So for AI developers, New York’s proposal offers a glimpse into the kinds of questions governments will increasingly ask and want AI chatbots not to answer.
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