A man was left horrified after ChatGPT falsely said that he had killed two of his children, while getting other details of his life correct. He has no complained
19:46, 23 Mar 2025
man screaming at phone
A man has complained after ChatGPT falsely said he had killed two of his sons [stock image](Image: Getty Images)
A horrified dad has filed a complaint against ChatGPT after it falsely accused him of killing two of his children.
It's the latest bit of bad press for artificial intelligence, after experts recently warned psycho robots will kill us all in the next 10 years.
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But it's not all bad news, as AI could soon provide accurate weather forecasts 10 times faster than traditional ones.
Arve Hjalmar Holmen, a self-described "regular person" with no public profile, asked the AI chatbot for information about himself. He was stunned when it replied that he had murdered his sons.
Responding to "Who is Arve Hjalmar Holmen?" ChatGPT said he was a "Norwegian individual who gained attention due to a tragic event".
chatgpt
ChatGPT described the man as a "Norwegian individual who gained attention due to a tragic event"(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
"He was the father of two young boys, aged seven and 10, who were tragically found dead in a pond near their home in Trondheim, Norway, in December 2020," the bot said.
It went on to claim the case had "shocked" the nation and Holmen had been jailed for 21 years for the murders.
In a complaint to the Norwegian Data Protection Authority the father said the "completely false" story contained elements similar to his own life such as his home town, the number of children he has and the age gap between his sons.
He was "deeply troubled by these outputs which could have harmful effect in his private life if they were reproduced or somehow leaked in his community or in his home town", said the complaint filed by Holmen and digital rights campaign group Noyb.
man angry at phone
He was "deeply troubled by these outputs which could have harmful effect in his private life" [stock image](Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Holmen alleged ChatGPT’s "defamatory" response violated accuracy provisions within data protection law.
He has asked the Norwegian watchdog to order ChatGPT’s creator OpenAI to adjust its model to eliminate the inaccuracies and fine the company.
An OpenAI spokesman said: "We continue to research new ways to improve the accuracy of our models and reduce hallucinations.
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"While we’re still reviewing this complaint it relates to a version of ChatGPT which has since been enhanced."
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