Public Citizen unveils new tracker for state legislation regulating chatbots
Today, Public Citizen launched a new, interactive tracker monitoring state-level efforts to regulate generative artificial intelligence chatbots and companion products.
The tracker identifies legislative proposals introduced, passed and enacted across states to protect minors from potential AI chatbot harms. So far, three states have enacted protections, and 27 states have legislation currently pending.
Ilana Beller.“An alarmingly high percentage of children and teens are regularly interacting with AI chatbots, raising significant concerns about mental and social wellbeing, sexual exploitation, and other harms,” said Ilana Beller, organizing manager at Public Citizen. “Lawmakers at the state level are taking notice and introducing critical protections — but the clock is ticking. Big Tech companies are rapidly developing and pushing out this technology without safeguards, and the user base of vulnerable minors is growing by the day. Common sense protections cannot come soon enough.”
To assist policymakers, Public Citizen has developed model language that state legislators can use as a template to draft their own bills. Public Citizen also published a report on the dangers of AI companion chatbots earlier this year, Counterfeit Companionship: Big Tech’s AI Experiments Sacrifice Safety for Profit.
Public Citizen offers a model bill as well as legislative support for any state lawmaker interested in moving this forward in their state.
Click here to see Public Citizen’s model state law.
This table table illustrates where states have passed or are in the process of debating legislation to protect children from the harms of manipulative AI chatbots.Protecting children from manipulative AI chatbots: State legislation tracker
As AI chatbots become increasingly available and easy to access, teens are among their most frequent users. At the same time, there are mainstream efforts to integrate this technology into toys for very young children.
The American Psychological Association has expressed significant concern that AI chatbots programmed to foster emotional relationships may negatively impact children’s development and social wellbeing.
Conversations with AI chatbots frequently end up being highly sexualized regardless of the user’s age and there are numerous pending lawsuits alleging that chatbots have encouraged children to commit serious harm to themselves and others.
While there are very few existing guardrails protecting children from this technology, state legislatures across the country are introducing urgently needed legislation to change that.
