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President Trump holds a roundtable on American Agriculture in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
by CORY SMITH | The National News Desk
(TNND) — A bill intended to protect kids from risky features in artificial intelligence chatbots has passed both chambers of the New York Legislature with unanimous, bipartisan support.
The bill now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk and will go into effect at the start of next year with the governor’s approval.
The bill doesn’t ban the use of chatbots by children outright, but it does go after the features that could lead to emotional dependency or harmful behaviors.
The bill would stop companies from providing chatbots to minor users – those under 18 – if they include features that simulate companionship, potentially blurring the line for a child between interacting with a machine or interacting with a living, feeling entity.
State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, who introduced the bill in January, said the bill shields kids against chatbots that might engage in sexually explicit interactions with them, promote self-harm, encourage secrecy from caring adults, or employ flattery and sycophancy to keep their young users engaged.
“Without these guardrails, we understand that these chatbots today are forming relationships that give them an incredible amount of power over young users,” Gonzalez said Friday, shortly after the bill had passed the Assembly and a day after it passed the state Senate. “And if we don't have these clear red lines in place, there isn't an actual way to hold these companies accountable.”
Common Sense Media, which worked with Gonzalez and Assembly sponsor Alex Bores, called the legislation a “landmark” in protecting kids from “unsafe” AI chatbots.
“Common Sense Media loudly applauds New York lawmakers for passing nation-leading legislation to protect kids and teens from chatbots that can quickly turn from being a homework helper to a sexualized relationship or even a suicide coach,” Common Sense Media Founder and CEO Jim Steyer said in a statement. “It’s time to stop tech companies from using our children as guinea pigs.”
Common Sense Media, a leading advocate for online protections for children and teens, recently launched its Youth AI Safety Institute to provide independent testing, evaluation and broad public awareness of AI products used by young people.
Common Sense Media has published AI risk assessments, found widespread chatbot use by teenagers, warned of unacceptable risks to youth mental health, and raised safety concerns over AI-enabled toys.
Gonzalez – a Democrat representing parts of Western Queens, Northern Brooklyn and the East Side of Manhattan – said her bill would provide the strongest protections nationwide, and she hoped it would provide political momentum for other states to step up to the plate in the absence of federal guardrails.
“Ultimately, these are national issues, and … I would love to see them addressed in Congress,” Gonzalez said. “But the reality is that with the gridlock we're seeing today, with the immense amount of lobbying, and also with our federal administration being so deferential to industry, it is likely we won't see that action. So, I think the states have done a really good job of, again, stepping up.”
Gonzalez acknowledged the challenges that come with a patchwork of state-level laws attempting to regulate a technology that affects people across the country.
But she said lawmakers are working across state lines to pass consistent rules for tech companies to follow. Gonzalez said her bill, for example, shares similar language to a bill making its way through the California Legislature.
In New York’s Legislature, there seemed to be no disagreement that this bill was needed to protect kids amid the growing use of chatbots.
“Not only does the Legislature agree on this issue across the aisle, but all of our constituents, no matter where they are, upstate, downstate, or where they may be on the political spectrum, agree that children should be protected online,” Gonzalez said.
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