What happens when an AI chatbot takes part in a crime?

This is the first episode of a Stay Tuned miniseries, “AI on Trial,” featuring Preet Bharara in conversation with Nita Farahany, professor of law and philosophy at Duke University.  

Preet and Nita discuss the hypothetical case of a nurse who is caught stealing medications and redistributing them to people living in poverty. As it turns out, an artificial intelligence chatbot, who the nurse is in love with, aided her crimes and coerced her into carrying them out. How might the AI’s assistance impact the nurse’s criminal liability and a potential prosecution? And how do we even begin to think about the idea of holding the AI itself accountable for the harm it causes?

Stay Tuned in Brief is presented by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Please write to us with your thoughts and questions at [email protected], or leave a voicemail at 669-247-7338. 

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