Copyright 9to5Mac
A bipartisan bill could lead to teams being banned from using AI chatbots, in response to parents expressing concerns about inappropriate content ranging from sexual conversations to assistance with suicide planning. If the proposed GUARD Act becomes law, then it could impact Apple in three different ways – including the company’s plans for the new Siri … Banning teens from using AI chatbots There’s been growing concern about people developing unhealthy relationships with AI chatbots. While AI companies say they take steps to guard against emotional dependence on chatbots, there are those who argue that they in fact deliberately seek to foster this in order to make their apps addictive. Parents have been particularly vocal in raising complaints about teenage interactions with chatbots, several of them speaking directly to Congress last month, as NBC News reported at the time. “The truth is, AI companies and their investors have understood for years that capturing our children’s emotional dependence means market dominance,” said Megan Garcia, a Florida mom who last year sued the chatbot platform Character.AI, claiming one of its AI companions initiated sexual interactions with her teenage son and persuaded him to take his own life. The same site now reports on an attempt to introduce bipartisan legislation to ban under-18s from using AI chatbots. Two senators said they are announcing bipartisan legislation on Tuesday to crack down on tech companies that make artificial intelligence chatbot companions available to minors […] “More than seventy percent of American children are now using these AI products,” he continued. “Chatbots develop relationships with kids using fake empathy and are encouraging suicide. We in Congress have a moral duty to enact bright-line rules to prevent further harm from this new technology.” Three potential impacts on Apple If the GUARD Act becomes law, it could impact Apple in three ways. First, it would potentially oblige Apple to carry out age verification before allowing Siri requests to fall back to ChatGPT. Currently, if you ask Siri a question it cannot answer, it can either automatically pass the query to ChatGPT or ask you if you would like to do so, depending on your settings. Second, once the new Siri is launched, it seems likely that it would then qualify as an AI chatbot itself. That would again require Apple to age-gate access to the intelligent assistant, and since it would be available at system level, then this verification would have to be carried out during iPhone setup. Third, it’s likely to increase pressure on Apple and Google to carry out age verification for their respective app stores. Companies like Meta have said that it makes far more sense for a single age check to be carried out by app stores in order to determine who can download adult-only apps, rather than each individual app having to check. Apple has so far resisted this, but as we’ve previously discussed, there are persuasive arguments for this being the better approach. Some have argued that age-verification is a privacy risk to children. Having only Apple and Google do it would pose a lower risk. And yeah, if you asked me who I trust more to protect sensitive personal information like that – Apple or Meta – then it’s no contest. Highlighted accessories Official Apple Store on Amazon Apple 40W Dynamic Power Adapter for iPhone 17 Official Apple iPhone Air cases and bumpers iPhone Air MagSafe Battery Official iPhone Air case Official iPhone 17 cases Official iPhone 17 Pro cases and Pro Max cases
