Singapore Drops AI Chatbot After Giving Inappropriate Advice About COVID

Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) removed an AI chatbot from its website after it went ‘haywire’ and provided people with inappropriate answers to COVID-related questions, according to Singapore newspaper Today. 

Dubbed “Jamie,” the AI chatbot uses Natural Language Processing engine to figure out questions asked by the public. 

Things recently took a turn for the worse when the chatbot left some residents in disbelief by its answers about family planning advice when asked about the virus. 

An example of one of the conversations posted on Reddit shows one user asking the AI chatbot, “My son tested covid positive what should I do?”

The chatbot responded: 

“You should practice safe sex through the correct and consistent use of condoms, or abstinence, for at least the whole duration of your female partner’s pregnancy.”

Another conversation posted online shows a resident asking, “Where can I get an ART?” ART refers to rapid antigen tests. However, the chatbot was far from helpful and offered the “polio vaccine” instead. 

MOH was quick to remove the chatbot from its website after what it calls “misaligned” replies. Local media reports Ask Jamie is functional on dozens of other government websites and appears to be working fine. It remains a mystery why the chatbot gave terrible advice when residents asked COVID questions.