Air Canada must honor refund policy invented by airline's chatbot

Abstraction: Court ruling holding airline liable for chatbot's false refund promise

Key points:

• Jake Moffatt asked Air Canada's chatbot about bereavement refunds; chatbot falsely advised he could book immediately and request a refund within 90 days.
• Air Canada's actual policy prohibited retroactive refund requests; Moffatt was denied after following the chatbot's instructions.
• Air Canada argued the chatbot was "a separate legal entity responsible for its own actions" — the tribunal rejected this.
• Canada's Civil Resolution Tribunal ruled Air Canada must honor the chatbot's representation and pay a partial refund.
• Landmark case establishing that companies cannot disclaim liability for their own chatbots' misleading outputs.

Connections: Air Canada · Chatbot Liability · AI Legal Responsibility · Consumer Protection

Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/02/air-canada-must-honor-refund-policy-invented-by-airlines-chatbot/