New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new law to protect children from artificial intelligence chatbots, as AI usage surges and regulators have put more of a focus on risks they pose to young users.
On Wednesday, Hochul signed that law, which would block AI chatbot features that pretend to be human, "build emotional dependency, encourage self-harm or engage in sexually explicit conversations." Hochul also signed another law requiring baby monitors connected to the internet to include features to block strangers from watching or listening.
“As artificial intelligence advances at a rapid pace, there have been too many tragic incidents that should have been prevented, and as New York’s mom Governor, I’m taking action,” Hochul said. “No company should be peddling chatbots to kids encouraging self-harm or pretending to be their friend or more."
AI safety for children has come into focus over the past year amid the growth of AI and concerns over its use in schools. Last month, New York City imposed a one-year ban for about 600,000 of its elementary and middle school students, and other schools, like Chicago Public Schools, have taken a more measured approach in restricting students' access to generative AI.
As part of the new law, AI companies will not be able to offer certain features in the next few months, including pretending to be a real person, asking emotional questions that were not prompted, or any conversations that encourage kids to self-isolate, according to a statement. The new law also requires companies to verify ages and offer multiple ways to do so.
"We have a responsibility to keep children safe online. For too long, AI companies have profited from rolling out chatbots to underage consumers," said NY State Senator Kristen Gonzalez in a statement. "These chatbots have proven to be dangerous for children-from instances of encouraging self-harm to coaching minors on how to harm others.