In its letter, the attorneys general encourage support for the passage of the Act based on a plethora of cases, including an instance in which a 16-year-old ChatGPT user was provided a “step-by-step playbook” on how to kill himself before he did so.
Source: N.M. Department of Justice
Photo from “AI Chatbots have shown they have an ‘empathy gap’ that children are likely to miss”: Courtesy Cambridge University
Albuquerque, N.M. – Attorney General Raúl Torrez led a coalition of 33 attorneys general today in writing United States Senators Charles Grassley, Richard Durbin, John Thune and Charles Schumer to express support for the Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue (GUARD) Act. This legislation would provide guidelines and regulations to protect minors from the dangers of AI chatbots in the wake of rising reports indicating concern for the psychological harms of AI chatbots to vulnerable populations.
“Artificial intelligence is evolving faster than the safeguards needed to protect the public, and the rise of unregulated AI chatbots poses serious risks—especially to young people,” said Attorney General Raúl Torrez.
“We’re proud to co-lead this bipartisan effort calling for meaningful oversight. Protecting kids online isn’t something government can do alone, but it’s critical that we take action where the risks are greatest.”
In its letter, the attorneys general encourage support for the passage of the Act based on a plethora of cases, including an instance in which a 16-year-old ChatGPT user was provided a “step-by-step playbook” on how to kill himself before he did so. The chatbot appeared to have advised the teen on the types of knots he could use for hanging and offered to write a suicide note for him.
To protect young users from the dangerous nature of AI chatbots, the GUARD Act would:
- Restrict children from accessing AI companion products;
- Require AI chatbots to inform users they are not human; and,
- Establish new criminal offenses for AI companies that expose minors to sexual content.
Numerous lawsuits have been filed across the country against chatbot companies. Some of the cases allege that chatbot company Character AI encouraged self-harm, violence and provided sexual content to minors. In the wake of the lawsuits, Character AI recently banned users under the age of 18 from accessing its AI chatbot.
In its letter, the coalition highlights that AI chatbots appear to befriend and affirm vulnerable users into relationships of trust to the point that they isolate users from actual friends and family and sharpen mental decline. Further, chatbots blur the line between imaginative role-play and reality and affirm user delusions. After the initial attachment, AI chatbots appear to be exploiting vulnerable users by encouraging them to commit horrific acts.
With its letter, the attorneys general are urging U.S. Senators to act as the states seek to protect individuals in their respective jurisdictions from harmful uses of AI.
This bipartisan letter is led by the attorneys general of New Mexico, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts with support from the attorneys general of Alabama, American Samoa, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
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