A man in eastern China has sued an AI company after following a chatbot’s recommendation for his mother’s burial date, which he later blamed for a family member’s serious accident.
According to Jimu News, the man, identified only as Shi from Jiashan county in Zhejiang province, lost his mother to a sudden illness in April.
As the youngest of five siblings, Shi wanted to choose an auspicious date for her burial. In Chinese tradition, such dates are often selected using almanacs based on beliefs surrounding celestial movements and are considered by some to be important for major life events.
Shi initially consulted a feng shui master, and his family settled on April 20 for the burial.
However, he became concerned because the date fell on the fourth day after his mother’s death. Local customs in the area reportedly regard even-numbered days as unlucky, prompting Shi to seek further advice from an AI chatbot.
The chatbot recommended April 19 and advised the family to burn paper horses and paper money before the funeral procession, a traditional practice believed to provide the deceased with necessities for the journey to the afterlife.
Shi followed the advice but later noticed conflicting information from the chatbot. While it recommended carrying out the burial between 7am and 9am, it also stated that April 19 was not an auspicious date.
By then, Shi had already informed relatives about the arrangements and said the burial date could no longer be changed.
Shortly after the funeral, one of his relatives was seriously injured in a traffic accident. The exact timing of the accident was not disclosed.
Some family members attributed the incident to the burial date, believing that it had disrupted the family’s feng shui and brought bad luck.
Shi, who frequently used the chatbot for tasks including organising work contracts, believed the AI had provided misleading advice and that the incident contributed to tensions within his family.
He subsequently filed a lawsuit against Beijing Chuntian Zhiyun Technology, seeking an apology and compensation. The amount of compensation sought has not been disclosed.
The AI chatbot also reportedly helped Shi prepare legal documents and understand the procedures involved in his lawsuit.
The company’s terms of use state that AI-generated content is provided for reference only and does not constitute professional advice. Users are also required to accept the relevant service agreement when using the software.
The case has recently been heard by a local court and remains ongoing.
The company argued that no online infringement had taken place. Shi, however, claimed that the user agreement unfairly shifted responsibility to users, provided inadequate warnings and did not sufficiently review the sources of information used by the AI.
The case has drawn mixed reactions online. Some commenters argued that AI should only be treated as a tool and that users should independently assess the information it provides.
Others pointed to the irony of Shi using AI to help pursue a lawsuit against an AI company.
