ChatGPT To Be Leveraged By Consumer Affairs Ministry To Let Users File Complaints: Report

Consumers will reportedly be able to file complaints via text messages or voice notes.

According to a senior official, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is developing a mechanism powered by ChatGPT to enable consumers to file complaints on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) through text messages or voice notes, reported Economic Times on Wednesday. This will make it easier for consumers to lodge complaints, the official said.

Ever since Microsoft-backed OpenAI opened public access to ChatGPT prototype in November 2022, the chatbot has taken the world by storm, thanks to its surprisingly human-like responses to users' queries, which can range from anything between writing high-school essays to generating complex codes for programmers. 

The ministry is also considering using AI-enabled technology to assist consumers in filing cases with consumer commissions.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) is also reportedly working on a ChatGPT-powered WhatsApp chatbot to help farmers learn about various government schemes. Many services are adopting AI technology to improve their platforms.

Microsoft has announced that it will incorporate ChatGPT's technology into its Edge browser and Bing search to allow users to access results and online content with the help of AI. Additionally, Google has introduced its AI-powered chatbot, Bard.

Meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently sought the assistance of ChatGPT to understand the worldwide view on bail in a case of assault "laced with cruelty".

This marks a significant first in Indian court history, where AI was used to assist in a bail plea. The court had sought the assistance of ChatGPT while hearing the bail plea of an accused in a murder case, where the accused had been charged with an offence that was cruel and violent.

While dismissing the bail plea, Justice Anoop Chitkara observed that "causing death itself is cruel, but if the cruelty causes death, the tables turn". When the physical assault is done with an element of cruelty, the parameters of bail also change. When the offence is heinous and the crime is brutal, cruelty becomes one of the factors in granting or refusing bail.

"Cruel individuals contribute to sustain the greater deficiencies of society like gender, economic and social inequalities. Once the courts form a prima facie opinion that the accused acted with cruelty, then such an accused ordinarily should not be granted bail, and if the courts still deem it appropriate to grant, then it must be after specifying the reasons for such an indulgence," Justice Chitkara further observed.