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ARTICLE · 13 MARCH 2024

Can Statements By Client-Facing AI Chatbots Bind Their Owners? (Moffatt v. Air Canada)

Gardiner Roberts LLP
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More and more corporations are using client-facing Artificial Intelligence Chatbots to respond to client inquiries. Although these Chatbots can enhance customer service...

CanadaTechnology
Noah Bonis Charancle
Noah Bonis Charancle
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More and more corporations are using client-facing Artificial Intelligence Chatbots to respond to client inquiries. Although these Chatbots can enhance customer service by rapidly and cost effectively answering simple queries, the question begs as to who is liable when these bots mistakenly provide misleading or outright false information to clients.

The BC Civil Resolution Tribunal's recent decision in Moffatt v. Air Canada, 2024 BCCRT 149 discusses whether a Chatbot's owner can be held liable for any inaccurate information the bot provides. In that decision, Jake Moffat, who was travelling due to his grandmother's passing, booked flights through Air Canada from Vancouver to Toronto. While researching flights, he used Air Canada's Chatbot which was described by the Court as an automated system capable of providing information in response to human prompts.

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