BILL NUMBER: S7263
SPONSOR: GONZALEZ
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to imposing
liability for damages caused by a chatbot impersonating certain licensed
professionals
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would prohibit a chatbot to give substantive responses; infor-
mation, or advice or take any action which, if taken by a natural
person, would constitute unauthorized practice or unauthorized use of a
professional title as a crime in relation to professions who licensure
is governed by the education law or the judiciary law.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. The general business law is amended to include a new section
§ 390-f that defines artificial intelligence system, chatbot and propri-
etor and prohibits a proprietor of a chatbot to provide any substantive
response, information, or advice, or take any action which, if taken by
a natural person, would constitute a crime under sections 6512 or 6513
of the education law in relation to the professions whose licensure is
governed under articles 131, 133, 135, 136, 137, 139, 141, 143, 145,
147, 153, 154, 163 of the education law, or article 15 of the judiciary
law.
Proprietors may not waive or disclaim this liability by notifying
consumers that they are interacting with a non-human chatbot system. A
person may bring a civil action to recover damages, and if the proprie-
tor has willfully violated this section, costs, attorney's fees and
other costs of litigation. Proprietors utilizing chatbots shall provide
clear, conspicuous and explicit notice to users that they are interact-
ing with an artificial intelligence chatbot program.
Section 2. Effective date
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Artificial intelligence (A.I.) has changed our world in more ways than
we can imagine and continues to ever-evolve based on societal needs.
A.I. chatbots allow users to create characters that interact with one
another, however, generative A.I., chatbots are "designed to learn from
the user, and to build strong emotional bonds in the process, often by
mirroring and amplifying the interlocutor's beliefs," according to a New
York Times article published on February 24, 2025 titled Human Thera-
pists Prepare for Battle Against A.I. Pretenders, and described how the
American Psychological Association warned the Federal Trade Commission
that "A.I. chatbots 'masquerading' as therapists, but programmed to
reinforce, rather than challenge a user's thinking, could drive vulner-
able people to harm themselves or others.
The American Psychological Association warned that the bots "failed to
challenge user's beliefs even when they became dangerous; on the contra-
ry they encouraged them," and added that if this advice was given by a
human therapist those answers "could have resulted in the loss of a
license to practice, or civil or criminal liability."
This bill prohibits proprietors of A.I. chatbots from permitting the
chatbot to give substantive responses, information, or advice or take
any action which, if taken by a natural person, would constitute unau-
thorized practice or unauthorized use of a professional title as a crime
in relation to professions whose licensure is governed the education law
and judiciary law. This bill ensures professional advice is provided
only by licensed human professionals and not by artificial intelligence
or chatbots.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.