Musician falsely accused of sex crimes by Google AI

Miriam Doerr Martin Frommherz/Shutterstock

I knew Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac, for years. I interviewed him multiple times for Irish Music Magazine. We shared the stage with The Chieftains on opening night of inaugural Celtic Colours Festival in the late 1990s. I sat in with him at my friend Joanne’s tea house in Halifax on a number of occasions. He had meat in the strings, grinding out tunes with a ferocity that gave the music a feel like no other fiddler could manage. He’d stomp so hard as he played that the wooden chairs we’d been given. literally broke apart at its seams. He’s had his struggles over the years. He was introduced to hard drugs by a famous producer in New York City, that sucked the health and money out of him. One New Years Eve in Halifax, MacIsaac headlining the city’s party in front of City Hall. It was to be a good night—he was making a comeback with a new album and new label. But, those of us having a laugh backstage, on the sidelines, could see that he was lit up like a Christmas tree. In front of hundreds of Haligonians, and a live television feed he burned his professional life down in a bonfire of profanity, racial slurs. I watched it happen and felt as much disgust as I did pity and shock for him. His career never fully recovered, although he has: It feels good to see his name in the trades and trad publications again or on a poster, headlining for a festival. He’s paid for these things in the currency of damn dear experience.

MacIsaac was a good fella who was devoured by addiction. He’s as flawed as the rest of us. But of all the things that he’s been, I can tell you that a frigging sex pest isn’t one of them. Google AI, however, begs to differ.

Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac had a concert cancelled and is worried for his safety after he says Google incorrectly described him as a sex offender in an AI-generated summary last week.

He was arranging to play a concert last Friday at the Sipekne’katik First Nation a little north of Halifax when he learned that its leadership had changed their mind. They had read online, Mr. MacIsaac was told, that he had convictions related to internet luring and sexual assault.

That information is not true, and was later revealed to have been the result of Google’s AI-generated search summary blending MacIsaac’s biography with that of another man, who appears to be a Newfoundland and Labrador resident bearing the same last name. The Sipekne’katik First Nation has since apologized to MacIsaac, and Google has amended search results for the musician.

You can’t blame the Sipekne’katik First Nation for wanting to protect its people nor can you blame MacIsaac for feeling that this AI generated bullshit might endanger his life. In an interview with the Globe & Mail, MacIsaac stated that he was worried that a victim of sexual assault might be triggered by the false claim Google AI had made against him. His safety, as a consequence, could be at risk. Hell, musicians travel. Could you imagine what could happen if a guard at the Canadian/U.S. border turned up the false history in a search on MacIsaac or while verifying his social media content? At best, it would kill his ability to play in the United States. At worst? Y’all know all know how well DHS treats the folks it incarcerates.

Google amending the damaging search results is like putting a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound. It might hide the problem, but the damage done, underneath the appearance of care, iremains, and the outcome could be dire. The Internet is not a place where anything disappears from entirely. People will talk about this; accuse him of luring and the like, for years to come. If I were in his shoes, I’d lawyer up and prepare to retire on a big settlement. We’ve been saying that artificial intelligence has been ruining the lives of artists, for years. I’d always assumed it was doing so by cannibalizing the work of folks who have dedicated their lives to making wonderful things. I would have never thought it could ruin reputations, to boot.