The provincial governments of Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec have joined the federal privacy commissioner in investigating the ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.
The investigation that is being led by federal officials in Ottawa aims to determine if OpenAI, the privately held company that created ChatGPT, has obtained consent from Canadians to collect and use their personal information.
ChatGPT, which was launched in November 2022, gathers already existing information on the internet at lightning-fast speeds to create written text, draw images, and perform other tasks almost instantly.
Chatbots such as ChatGPT can respond to queries from humans in a conversational manner.
The privacy commissioner in Ottawa has said that it is also investigating whether OpenAI has followed its obligation related to transparency, access, accuracy and accountability in Canada.
The privacy commissioner’s office has said that AI and its potential impacts on Canadian society are a top priority.
Similar investigations into AI and chatbots have been launched in Europe and the U.S., with the chief executive of OpenAI recently appearing before Congress in Washington, D.C.
