WASHINGTON — Bipartisan legislation to guard children from AI chatbots was introduced today into the U.S. Senate by Sen. Katie Britt and two colleagues.
Britt (R-Montgomery) and Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced the “Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue (GUARD) Act.”
They were joined by parents of children who died by suicide or inflicted self-harm at the direct prompting of Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots, as well as supporting advocates and organizations of the legislation.
According to a news release from Britt’s office, the GUARD Act would ban the use of AI companions by minors, mandate AI chatbots disclose their non-human status, and establish new criminal liability for companies that design or develop chatbots which solicit or induce minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct or to create depictions of such conduct.
It also establishes criminal liability for companies that design or develop chatbots which encourage or promote suicide, self-injury, physical violence, or sexual violence, the release said.
“To all the parents out there, we hear you … [W]e are stepping up not as Democrats or Republicans, [but] as concerned parents, concerned grandparents,” Britt said. “[W]e have got to speak directly to Big Tech and say, ‘stop putting profits ahead of people.’ And in this situation, these people are children — they’re children.
“They need us to elevate our voice. They need us to elevate these stories so that we can protect the kids that are out there, (and) we can give parents the tools, parents who, like me, are just doing the best that we can.”
Britt, Hawley, and Blumenthal were joined by Sens. Mark Warner (R-Va.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) in introducing the legislation.
Most recently, Britt, Hawley, and Sen. Brian Schatz (R-Hawaii), and several colleagues from both parties sent a letter to Meta following reports that Meta’s AI chatbots were engaging in “sensual” conversations with children.
“Meta owes the American people answers,” Britt said, calling the findings “sick and twisted.”
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to our email newsletter to have all our smart stories delivered to your inbox.
