Today's Supreme Court hearing about online free speech raises the issue of whether AI-powered search answers are protected under Section 230.
Generative AI may not hypothetically be protected under the decades-old law that shields tech companies from being held liable for online content posted and shared by users, according to a brief statement made by Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch.
During today's questioning, Gorsuch briefly mentioned tech platforms' generative AI tech as a potential example of what's not protected under Section 230.
- AI "generates poetry" and "polemics" that go beyond choosing, analyzing, or digesting online content, he said.
- "And that is not protected. Let's assume that's right," Gorsuch said. "Then the question becomes, what do we do about recommendations?"
- In response, the Washington Post writes that search engines are using AI to answer user queries directly, making it "an open question whether they could be sued as the publisher or speaker of what their chatbots say."
The case marks the first time that the Supreme Court will consider the legality and scope of Section 230.
- Oral arguments in a lawsuit, Gonzalez v Google, covering the topic were heard by the Supreme Court today.
- The suit argues that Google's YouTube should be held liable for recommending ISIS terrorism videos following the death of Nohemi Gonzalez, a college exchange student, during the 2015 ISIS Paris attacks.
- The court is set to hear arguments in a second case, Twitter v. Taamneh, on Wednesday. The lawsuit makes similar allegations against Twitter, Facebook, and Google.
