Meetali Jain Is One of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in AI
Time · LC · trust 42/100
When she founded the nonprofit Tech Justice Law in 2023, Meetali Jain did not plan to become the go-to attorney for people suing companies over harm from AI chatbots—but she’s also unsurprised it happened. “It was a matter of time, I knew, before some kind of generative AI product was going to harm children,” she says. “I just didn’t realize how many other vulnerable people it would hurt.”
Her first case was that of Sewell Setzer III , a teenager who died by suicide in 2024 after being allegedly encouraged by a Character.AI chatbot based on Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen. Other lawyers had passed, Jain believes, because they assumed the company would get the matter dismissed. She persuaded a judge to allow it to move forward to discovery on product-safety liability grounds. Character.AI and its technology licensor Google settled for an undisclosed sum in January.
After the Sewell case was filed, Tech Justice Law was flooded with calls about other ways AI chatbots had harmed would-be plaintiffs, including the parents of Adam Raine, who sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, accusing the company of wrongful death after the 16-year-old California boy died by suicide using a method they say ChatGPT advised him on. OpenAI has extended its sympathies to the family and said that protections for minors are a priority, but has denied liability for his death. On Aug. 18, the company released ChatGPT for Teens , which has content restrictions around topics including suicide , self-harm, and romantic conversations.
Jain sees part of her role as giving families a voice. “We’re able to focus lawmakers or attorneys general or courts on how these harms actually manifest,” Jain says. “I really see us as storytellers. We are telling stories of what has happened to people.”
If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental-health crisis or contemplating suicide, call or text 988 . In emergencies, call 911, or seek care from a local hospital or mental health provider.
Read the original at Time →
Open in TruthVane →