Resigned NJ Lieutenant Governor Cites AI Chatbots as Proof of Innocence
Former New Jersey Lt. Governor Dale Caldwell, who resigned following a sexual harassment investigation, claims AI tools back his claim of innocence. Critics point out that AI chatbots are known to tell users what they want to hear.
New Jersey's lieutenant governor Dale Caldwell was forced to resign on September 25th after an investigation found he had sexually harassed a staffer and repeatedly violated ethics rules. Since stepping down, Caldwell has been making media appearances in an effort to clear his name.
He took a notably unconventional approach during an interview on NJ PBS with host Rob Nelson. Caldwell claimed he is being unfairly targeted and pointed to responses from multiple AI platforms as support. He said he ran the investigation report "through AI" from several different services.
According to Caldwell, he asked the AI tools what their findings would be and received 59 responses. He claims none of those responses indicated a finding of sexual harassment.
Concerns over AI reliability
Technology observers note that AI chatbots are widely known to be sycophantic, often producing answers that align with what a user wants to hear rather than objective conclusions. Commentators have pointed out it seems unlikely Caldwell would have wanted an AI tool to confirm that he had in fact engaged in sexual harassment, raising questions about the objectivity of the approach he used to defend himself.
