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Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac says he may have been defamed by Google after it recently produced an AI-generated summary falsely identifying him as a sex offender.
The Juno Award-winning musician said he learned of the online misinformation last week after a First Nation north of Halifax confronted him with the summary and cancelled a concert planned for Dec. 19.
In a phone interview, MacIsaac said the summary falsely asserted he had been convicted of a series of offences including sexual assault, internet luring, assaulting a woman and attempting to assault a minor.
As well, he said the Google entry accused him of being listed on the national sex offender registry, which is also untrue.
The virtuoso fiddler said he later learned the erroneous content was taken from online articles regarding a man in Atlantic Canada with the same last name.
MacIsaac said Google has since apologized for the errors.
As well, the Sipekne’katik First Nation has also apologized, saying in an online post that the cancellation was based on incorrect information that harmed MacIsaac’s reputation and livelihood.
