About a week after the shooting in Tumbler Ridge, it came to light that OpenAI, the company that runs Chat GPT had cancelled Jesse Van Rootselaar’s account. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Van Rootselaar had been searching for scenarios that some employees interpreted as ““an indication of potential real-world violence,”
“While using ChatGPT last June, Van Rootselaar described scenarios involving gun violence over the course of several days, according to people familiar with the matter,” says the WSJ.
This led to the company suspending his accout, but employees urged the company to report the incident to the RCMP.
They didn’t.
Now, the company is being questioned for its role in the shooting.
After the shooting took place, the company resched out to the RCMP to report Van Rootselaars activity to law enforcement, but questions are being raised about why the company didn’t come forward sooner.
BC Premier David Eby says that “reports that allege OpenAI had related intelligence before the shootings in Tumbler Ridge took place are profoundly disturbing for the victims’ families and all British Columbians.
“The pain that these families have gone through is unimaginable.
“We have confirmed with police that they are pursuing orders regarding the preservation of any potential evidence related to the shootings in Tumbler Ridge held by digital services companies, including social media platforms and AI companies.
“We will use all powers of government to ensure that police have the tools they need to investigate every aspect of this horrific tragedy.”
But it’s not just the province that is questioning the company. On Sunday, February 22, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon and his team met with OpenAI.
“When I read reports [saying OpenAI had not contacted RCMP], I immediately contacted open AI to get an explanation about the situation,” says Solomon.
“I have summoned the senior safety team from OpenAI in the United States to come here to Ottawa, they will come here tomorrow, and we will have a sit down meeting to have an explanation of their safety protocols, and when they escalate, and their threshold of escalation to police, so we have a better understanding of what’s happening and what they do.
Solomon is working with representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Public Safety and Heritage. “ I’m also working closely with my colleagues in British Columbia as we examine this. Its an ongoing investigations, but I am happy to give you more information, from OpenAI, when they come here on Tuesday, from the United States, to give us a deeper understanding of exactly how such a situation could occur. Canadians expect their children will be kept safe, and that these organizations act in a responsible manner. I will tell you this, all options are on the table.
“We have to hear from OpenAI about their safety protocols. We have to hear their escalation thresholds, and we are going to get more details on that. Our job and our duty is to make sure Canadians are protected. And I can tell you, you’ve got Bill C-16 tabled right now, which will criminalize non-consensual sexual deepfakes, I’ve got a bill updated privacy legislation on PIPEDA. Marc Miller [Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture] and I are working very closely together to make sure that we have a suite of measures to protect Canadians which will be thorough to make sure that Canadians are kept safe, especially children.”
According to OpenAI, the level of threat presented by Van Rootselaar’s account didn’t meet the threshold required to refer the account to law enforcement. They say that having police show up at a young person’s door can also be distressing for a young person and their family.
Both YouTube and Roblox removed Van Rootselaar’s accounts.
““Following this horrific incident, our Trust and Safety teams identified and removed a YouTube channel associated with the alleged suspect in accordance with our Creator Responsibility Guidelines,” YouTube said. Meanwhile, Roblox released a statement saying “We have removed the user account connected to this horrifying incident as well as any content associated with the suspect. We are committed to fully supporting law enforcement in their investigation.”
We are hoping to hear back from Minister Solomon tomorrow about his meeting with OpenAI.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
