Andrew Hastie says AI advised him to reply ‘congratulations!’ to man who planned to end life with assisted dying

Australian Liberal MP Andrew Hastie told a parliamentary inquiry on Friday that Microsoft Copilot suggested he reply "congratulations!", "great to hear from you" or "that is wonderful news!" to a terminally ill constituent who wrote to say he planned to end his own life through voluntary assisted dying. Hastie cited the episode to argue for AI run by Australians, while Australia's cyber chief told the same inquiry the technology is needed to fend off "highly capable malicious cyber actors".

Andrew Hastie says AI advised him to reply ‘congratulations ’ to man who planned to end life with assisted dying By Luca IttimaniSource: The Guardian Technology https://www.theguardian.com/us/technology Liberal MP speaks of AI’s shortcomings as cyber chief tells inquiry the tech is needed to fend off ‘highly capable malicious cyber actors’ - Get our new political email https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=cvau sfl , free app https://app.adjust.com/w4u7jx3 or daily news podcast https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/full-story?CMP=cvau sfl When a man with a terminal illness wrote to his local MP Andrew Hastie, telling him he planned on ending his own life with voluntary assisted dying, Microsoft Copilot https://www.machinebrief.com/compare/github-copilot-vs-cursor suggested Hastie reply with “congratulations ”, “great to hear from you” or “that is wonderful news ”. Hastie shared the episode at a parliamentary inquiry on Friday to underline the shortcomings of the American-run software as he called for AI run by Australians. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/18/andrew-hastie-says-ai-advised-him-to-reply-congratulations-to-man-who-planned-to-end-life-with-assisted-dying Get AI news in your inbox Daily digest of what matters in AI.