Cape Breton violinist Ashley MacIsaac says Google may have defamed him after Google recently produced an AI-generated resume that falsely identified him as a sex offender.
The Juno Award winner said Tuesday that he learned about online technology. disinformation last week after a First Nation north of Halifax confronted him and canceled one of his concerts scheduled for Dec. 19.
“You're put in a less safe situation because of a media company – that's what libel is,” MacIsaac said in a phone interview, adding that he was concerned about what could happen if erroneous content surfaced as he tried to cross an international border.
“If a lawyer wants to take it on (for free) … I would stand up because I’m not the first and I’m sure I won’t be the last.”
McIsaac said the report falsely stated that he had been convicted of a number of crimes, including sexual assault, online luring, assault on a female and attempted assault on a minor. Additionally, he said the Google post accuses him of being on the National Sex Offender Registry, which is also untrue.
“I could have ended up at the border and gone to jail,” he said. “Therefore, some research needs to be done about what AI companies are responsible for… and what they can prevent.”
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The 50-year-old violin virtuoso said he later learned the inaccurate statements were taken from online articles about a man in Atlantic Canada with the same last name.
Google Canada spokeswoman Wendy Manton issued a statement saying Google's “AI reviews” often change to show what she called the most “useful” information.
“When problems arise—for example, if our features misinterpret web content or miss some context—we use these examples to improve our systems and can take action in accordance with our policies.”
Meanwhile, Sipekne'katik First Nation issued a public apology to MacIsaac, saying in an online post that the cancellation was based on incorrect information.
“We deeply regret the harm this has caused to your reputation and livelihood,” it said. “The Chief and Council value your skill, contributions to the cultural life of the Maritimes, and your commitment to reconciliation.”
As for the canceled concert, MacIsaac says he's looking forward to rescheduling the event. But he said he wanted everything to be settled before setting a date.
“I don't feel comfortable going there right now because I don't think the necessary information can be disseminated within a week. There have been so many actions,” he said. “I didn’t want to bring any negative attention to the community.”
As for a possible lawsuit, MacIsaac said he has already spoken with a lawyer and speculated about how misinformation could have prompted the cancellation of a concert scheduled for earlier this year in Mexico.
However, he said he doesn't have the money to pay for the lawsuit, which could take years to settle.
MacIsaac burst into music in the 1990s as an extremely talented teenager who mixed traditional Celtic music with an energetic rock style that eventually found its way into the hip-hop scene.
Of course, he is no stranger to controversy.
During a 1999 concert in Halifax, he launched into a profanity-laced rant that ended the show and led to widespread cancellations of his concerts. And in early 1997, he attracted attention for discussing his sexual proclivities with a reporter and flashing his private parts during an appearance on a US late-night talk show.
But he has had no major run-ins with the law, other than getting a clean bill of lading and no fine in 2001 for marijuana possession in Saskatchewan. When Judge Linton Smith granted release, he told McIsaac's lawyer: “The only condition I would like to impose is if you can give my wife an autograph.”
When cannabis was legalized in Canada in October 2018, MacIsaac was first in line at a subsidiary of Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. in Cape Breton, which was set to become the only legal place to purchase recreational cannabis on the island.
“I don’t have to be a criminal anymore, and that’s a great feeling,” he said at the time. “And my new dealer is the Prime Minister!”
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