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88 THRHR 180 (2025)
Chatbots and Negligent Misstatements: Common-Law Delictual Liability

handle is hein.journals/tyromhldre88 and id is 191 raw text is: 





























OPSOMMING


   Chatbots en nalatige misstellings: Gemeenregtelike deliktuele aanspreeklikheid
Klets- of geselsbots is rekenaarprogramme wat gesprekke met mense kan voer. Gewoonlik
stel 'n persoon 'n vraag aan die kletsbot, waarna did bot bepaalde inligting bewerk, en dan
die persoon se vraag beantwoord. In 'n onlangse Kanadese saak, Moffat v Air Canada
2024 BCCRT   149, het 'n lugredery se kletsbot inkorrekte inligting aan 'n klant verskaf wat
tot skade gelei het. Die Kanadese Civil Resolution Tribunal het beslis dat die lugredery
aanspreeklik is vir die uitlatings van sy kletsbot, soos 'n lugredery vir misstellings wat op 'n
statiese webtuiste gekommunikeer word, aanspreeklik sou wees. In hierdie artikel oorweeg
ek of 'n Suid-Afrikaanse hof in 'n derglike geval 'n soortgelyke beslissing sou maak
ingevolge die gemene  deliktereg. Na 'n bespreking van die Moffat saak, word die vyf
elemente van  Aquiliese aanspreeklikheid op die feite toegepas: skade, die handeling,
onregmatigheid, nalatigheid, en kousaliteit. Die gevolgtrekking is dat die Suid-Afrikaanse
gemenereg 'n moontlike remedie vir 'n eiser verskaf in die geval van'n nalatige misstelling
deur 'n kletsbot. Litigasie oor hierdie tipe feitestel kan egter onbekostigbaar wees, veral
wanneer deskundige getuienis vereis word. Daarom word'n tentatiewe voorstel gemaak om
die internasionale arena van kunsmatige intelligensie-aanspreeklikheid dop te hou vir
moontlike statutere ontwikkelings.

1   INTRODUCTION
A  chatbot  is a  bot which   is a  computer  program[me] that is capable of
communicating   with  humans,  usually in a simple way.1  More  colloquially and
practically, a chatbot is a computer programme  that can hold a conversation with
human  beings  (the term derives from the words chat and robot).2 The conversation
between  the computer and the human  typically unfolds through the input of human
language  by the user, the processing of the same by the computer programme,  and
outputs produced  in language  that the user can understand.3 The applications of
chatbots are vast.
   I can flag three  notable examples   that already are part  of many   people's
everyday  lives to bring the discussion closer to home. In the first instance, many


  * I should like to acknowledge the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust for the financial support it
    provided for my sabbatical research. This paper was written at the Centre for Transformative
    Private Law (ACT) at the University of Amsterdam, where I was a visiting fellow in 2024. I
    am also indebted to Leo Boonzaier who first drew my attention to the case under discussion.
  1 See Ince (ed) A dictionary ofthe internet (2019).
  2 See Leaua &  Didu Chatbots. Legal challenges and the EU policy approach 2021
    Perspectives ofLaw and Public Administration 210 211.
  3 Ciesla The book of chatbots: From ELIZA to ChatGPT (2024) 11.
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