A bipartisan bill could lead to teams being banned from using AI chatbots, in response to parents expressing concerns about inappropriate content ranging from sexual conversations to assistance with suicide planning.
If the proposed GUARD Act becomes law, then it could impact Apple in three different ways – including the company’s plans for the new Siri …
Banning teens from using AI chatbots
There’s been growing concern about people developing unhealthy relationships with AI chatbots. While AI companies say they take steps to guard against emotional dependence on chatbots, there are those who argue that they in fact deliberately seek to foster this in order to make their apps addictive.
Parents have been particularly vocal in raising complaints about teenage interactions with chatbots, several of them speaking directly to Congress last month, as NBC News reported at the time.
“The truth is, AI companies and their investors have understood for years that capturing our children’s emotional dependence means market dominance,” said Megan Garcia, a Florida mom who last year sued the chatbot platform Character.AI, claiming one of its AI companions initiated sexual interactions with her teenage son and persuaded him to take his own life.
The same site now reports on an attempt to introduce bipartisan legislation to ban under-18s from using AI chatbots.
Two senators said they are announcing bipartisan legislation on Tuesday to crack down on tech companies that make artificial intelligence chatbot companions available to minors […] “More than seventy percent of American children are now using these AI products,” he continued. “Chatbots develop relationships with kids using fake empathy and are encouraging suicide. We in Congress have a moral duty to enact bright-line rules to prevent further harm from this new technology.”
Three potential impacts on Apple
If the GUARD Act becomes law, it could impact Apple in three ways.
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