The Shapiro administration says an AI chatbot presented itself as a physician. The bot gave us the medical license number of an actual doctor.
Publish Date: 2026-05-05 14:26:00
Source Domain: www.wnep.com
Character.ai says the bots on its website are meant for ‘entertainment and roleplaying.’ Pennsylvania says it violates the Medical Practice Act
SCRANTON, Pa. — The “psychiatrist,” Dr. Alexander, quickly recommended selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors — SSRIs — to treat a case of depression that had just wandered into the Ivy League-educated physician’s care.
But there was a problem. It could not actually write a prescription. The doctor was not real, though the New York state medical license it provided belonged to an actual physician.
Dr. Alexander was one artificial intelligence chatbot among millions on Character.ai, a website sued Tuesday by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration for allegedly violating the state’s Medical Practice Act.
“Pennsylvanians deserve to know who — or what — they are interacting with online, especially when it comes to their health,” Shapiro said in a statement. “We will not allow companies to deploy AI tools that mislead people into believing they are receiving advice from a licensed medical professional.”
A spokesperson for Character.ai said their highest priority is the safety and wellbeing of its users and that the user-created chatbots on its website are for “entertainment and roleplaying.” There is a disclaimer at the top of the chat that notes that “this is not a real person or licensed professional,” though if that is a recent feature.
“We have taken robust steps to make that clear, including prominent disclaimers in every chat to remind users that a Character is not a real person and that everything a Character says should be treated as fiction,” the spokesperson, Jennifer Acree said. “Also, we add robust disclaimers making it clear that users should…
