ChatGPT falsely accuses Norwegian man of murdering his children
ChatGPT falsely told a Norwegian man that he had murdered two of his sons and served 21 years in prison, fabricating details while incorporating accurate personal information about him. The man filed a complaint with Norway's data protection authority, alleging the hallucination is defamatory and violates data protection rules.
What happened
Arve Hjalmar Holmen queried ChatGPT with the search "Who is Arve Hjalmar Holmen?" and received a response fabricating that he had murdered two of his sons, aged 7 and 10, found dead in a pond near Trondheim, Norway in December 2020, and that he had been jailed for 21 years.
The AI-generated response included accurate personal details about Mr. Holmen, such as the number and gender of his children and his hometown, which made the false narrative appear credible.
Reported impact
Mr. Holmen reported significant distress, stating "Some think that there is no smoke without fire - the fact that someone could read this output and believe it is true is what scares me the most."
Digital rights group Noyb stated that Mr. Holmen "has never been accused nor convicted of any crime and is a conscientious citizen" and characterized the response as defamatory and damaging to his reputation and personal life.
Index analysis
The incident exemplifies hallucination in generative AI systems, where the model generates fabricated information and presents it as factual. Hallucinations can result from incorrect data, biases, or inaccuracies in the AI model's training dataset.
Governance controls
ChatGPT carries a disclaimer stating "ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info." Noyb argued this disclaimer is insufficient, stating "You can't just spread false information and in the end add a small disclaimer saying that everything you said may just not be true."
OpenAI stated it continues to research ways to improve accuracy and reduce hallucinations, noting that the complaint relates to a version of ChatGPT which has since been enhanced with online search capabilities that improve accuracy.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.