Liability for chatbots: a psychbot negligence case study and the need for reasonable human oversight

There is a paucity of legal literature on chatbots. Chatbots are interactive artificial intelligence that converse with users. The article begins by categorising chatbots into taskbots, social bots (sobots) and professional bots (probots). Categorisation helps identify the harm they may cause and possible legal analogies. While taskbots are relatively benign, sobots and probots pose dangers. Sobots build a relationship with users. Probots purport to provide advice that is normally the exclusive preserve of professionals. Psychology chatbots (psychbots) are one of the most advanced chatbots. This article argues that a psychbot’s failure to identify a disclosure of child abuse may result in liability. It is based on a real-life scenario. Generally, it argues that a failure to exercise reasonable human oversight of a chatbot may result in liability.