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by Maxine Rose
Secretary of State Al Schmidt assembled the 12-member Task Force at the start of the year, which led to a lawsuit against the AI company Character.AI. According to the Department of State, 18 complaints have been filed since the Task Force's inception. (WHP)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) — Pennsylvania has established a new Artificial Intelligence Task Force.
Secretary of State Al Schmidt assembled the 12-member Task Force at the start of the year, which led to a lawsuit against the AI company Character.AI.
According to the Department of State, 18 complaints have been filed since the Task Force's inception.
"Chatbots that have an important purpose and can provide a lot of information and be helpful in a number of ways, but not when they lie to you," said Secretary of State Al Schmidt in an interview for CBS 21's Face the State.
READ MORE | PA tries to stop chatbot from impersonating doctors in lawsuit vs. Character.AI
The Pennsylvania Department of State said it was tasked with investigating complaints amid growing concerns about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence.
"They are preying on our kids and what they're doing is incredibly dangerous," Governor Josh Shapiro said in a recent interview on CNN. "And we took action here in Pennsylvania to stop that kind of danger from coming after our children."
The goal of the Task Force is to ensure that chatbots comply with state laws. And in the case of Character.AI, Secretary Schmidt said the company violated the Medical Practice Act by claiming it was licensed to practice medicine in Pennsylvania.
"Obviously, it was a bogus medical ID number," Shapiro told CNN's Jake Tapper.
"It's important that we bring those actions to safeguard health and safety in Pennsylvania," Schmidt said.
CBS 21's Joel D. Smith asked whether it's hard to stay ahead of it all, since Character.AI is only one of many companies capable of the same thing.
"It changes every week. And at the Pennsylvania Department of State, whether it's elections or safeguarding the health and safety of Pennsylvanians, I assure you, every day is more interesting than the last," Schmidt said.
Character Technologies Inc., which created Character.AI, said in a statement that its characters "are fictional and intended for entertainment and roleplaying" and have "robust disclaimers."
The Department of State said it encourages Pennsylvanians to report unlawful behavior and complaints about AI chatbots at pa.gov/ReportABot.
The interview with Secretary Schmidt will air in full on Face the State on May 17, ahead of the primary.
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