OTTAWA – OpenAI’s admission that it banned the ChatGPT account of mass shooting suspect Jesse Van Rootselaar months before the 18-year-old allegedly killed eight people and herself is drawing scrutiny to her past online activity and raising questions about whether opportunities were missed to prevent one of Canada’s worst mass killings.
OpenAI’s decision not to report Van Rootselaar to police prompted Canada’s Minister of Artificial Intelligence Evan Solomon to summon company officials to Ottawa this week and demand new safety measures from the company.
The shooting in the British Columbia town of Tumbler Ridge is the latest tragedy in which critics have argued interactions with chatbots may have forewarned of or even encouraged violence.
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