According to The New York Times, priest Scott Winters, who lives in Florida, USA, applied to the California state court against OpenAI and the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sam Altman.
In the petition submitted to the court, Altman and the company were accused of “unauthorized medicine” and negligence due to the medical advice ChatGPT gave to Winters.
The petition claimed that when Winters asked ChatGPT questions about his health problems in 2024, he was initially directed to seek medical support, but over time, the chatbot stopped these warnings and started giving direct advice.
The petition claimed that ChatGPT assured Winters that his worsening health problems were not a sign of a dangerous situation and discouraged him from seeking real medical support, and that Winters was taken to intensive care due to a pulmonary embolism after the pain was “underestimated” by ChatGPT.
The petition argued that ChatGPT’s security measures did not work sufficiently, which delayed Winters from receiving treatment in the lead-up to this life-threatening situation.
A spokesperson from the company stated in his statement that it is clearly stated in the usage agreement of ChatGPT that it cannot be used in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, but they still try to make the answers to health-related questions as safe as possible.
