A concert venue in Canada canceled fiddler Ashley MacIsaac after Google AI wrongly labeled him a sex offender, prompting a potential lawsuit.
Ashley MacIsaac, known for his blend of Celtic music with modern works, had been scheduled to perform at the Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia, Canada, on December 19 last year, but the venue canceled his show due to false information from Google AI, per News Nation.
MacIsaac said he was informed that a Google AI summary wrongly identified him as a sex offender, and the venue saw the misinformation online.
“You are being put into a less secure situation because of a media company — that’s what defamation is,” MacIsaac told the CBC. “If a lawyer wants to take this on (for free) … I would stand up because I’m not the first and I’m sure I won’t be the last.”
The 50-year-old said he realized the summary was aggregated from articles about another Canadian man with the same name.
The venue apologized for the mistake and called for “reconciliation.”
“We deeply regret the harm this caused to your reputation and livelihood,” the venue said. “Chief and council value your artistry, contribution to the cultural life of the Maritimes, and your commitment to reconciliation.”
MacIsaac told St. Albert Gazette that he would be willing to file a defamation suit against Google if a lawyer took it on for free.
“It’s a very scary situation where, if I had gone to a border, I probably would have been still in jail,” the musician said. “[I’ve been] a public figure for years and there are stories written about me that are about marijuana and about me being gay, all that stuff…But when it comes to the serious nature of criminal offenses, it’s completely false. It’s completely wrong.”
A spokesperson for Google told CTV, “Search, including AI Overviews is dynamic and frequently changing to show the most helpful information. When issues arise — like if our features misinterpret web content or miss some context — we use those examples to improve our systems, and may take action under our policies.”
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