In today’s column, I examine a recently concluded New Mexico court case that declared Meta’s social media to be a legally prohibited public nuisance in that state. This was an unprecedented ruling. It is the first instance of successfully bringing a public nuisance charge against social media, and it has now opened the floodgates for other states to pursue the same legal line of attack against social media firms. That alone is newsworthy.

Here’s the added twist. It is entirely conceivable that this crucial ruling could provide fodder to apply the same overarching public nuisance label to modern-day AI chatbots. Yes, for those who believe AI makers have allowed their generative AI and large language models (LLMs) to go too far, including excessive sycophancy and the AI offering ad hoc mental health guidance that might send people over the bend, the specter of public nuisance as a new legal hammer has arisen. In a series of posts, I will take a close look at how the legal charge of public nuisance could be the next big means of forcing AI makers to improve AI safety and adopt a more mindful approach to devising and fielding their AI wares.

Let’s talk about it. This analysis of AI breakthroughs is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage on the latest in AI, including identifying and explaining various impactful AI complexities (see the link here).

The Pace Of AI Advances

I’m sure that you already know that the pace of AI advancements is frenetic. Almost every day there is a new announcement about some resoundingly breathtaking AI innovation. Whereas this used to be a once-a-year kind of pronouncement, we have shifted to daily occurrences. Anyone who does doomscrolling on their smartphone can observe AI breakthrough announcements that arrive on a nearly hourly or minute-by-minute basis.

The ordinary reaction would be that this is an exciting time to be alive. We are all in the front row when it comes to AI advancing and changing our lives. Imagine that fifty years ago the world at large could only dream of such an amazing pace. And, perhaps fifty years from now, in the future, the whole kit-and-caboodle will have slowed down after we’ve already exhausted all feasible AI innovations (well, some believe there will be even more, due to AI generating discoveries on behalf of humans).

Here’s the problem at hand. The pace of technological advancement is outdoing the pace of figuring out how to handle the ramifications of this newest AI. Policies about guiding AI development and controlling its downsides are slowly being churned out. Laws that protect the public from runaway AI are only now being crafted and potentially put in place. The issue is that the AI tech advances are happening at lightning speed, and we are collectively far beyond the end of our skis.

For my detailed coverage of this head-scratching conundrum, see the link here.

Legal Angles To Pursue

The question arises as to what legal angles can be pursued to try to ensure that AI makers incorporate AI safety integrally into their efforts. Rather than AI safety being a low priority or something that just happens to get lip service, there seemingly should be a viable legal means to put their feet to the fire. Force the AI makers to put AI safety at the top of their list of things to be taken seriously and pursued vigorously.

A novel legal perspective is to consider that AI makers could be in trouble for allowing their AI chatbots to be a kind of public nuisance. I know that might sound a bit like an overstretch. We tend to think of public nuisances from an entirely different viewpoint. For example, when a factory in a town is........

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