44 US AGs Write a Letter Warning AI Companies

On the heels of Meta’s Internal AI leak, 44 US attorneys general wrote a strongly worded letter to major AI companies.

The attorneys general condemn exposing children to sexualized content through personalized AI. The letter cites several recent cases where personalized AI went wrong, including:

• Google’s chatbot drove a teenager towards suicide
• The Character.ai chatbot told a teenager that he should kill his parents

Oddy, the letter gave the AI companies leeway when it comes to development:

We understand that the frontier of technology is a difficult and uncertain place where learning, experimentation, and adaptation are necessary for survival. You are figuring things out as you go. But in that process, you have opportunities to exercise judgment.

The letter also acknowledged social media has harmed children, but pins the blame on a lack of regulation.

You will be held accountable for your decisions. Social media platforms caused significant harm to children, in part because government watchdogs did not do their job fast enough. Lesson learned

…

We wish you all success in the race for AI dominance. But we are paying attention. If you knowingly harm kids, you will answer for it.

It’s okay if AI dominates the world, replaces everyone’s jobs, and makes people dumber—just watch out when it comes to children.

Fourty-four US attorneys general signed this letter because they care about protecting children. In the coming months, we’ll see if they really mean that.

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a segment from #TBOT Show Episode 12. Watch the full episode here!

Today’s AI-driven operating systems send your personal media to big tech companies for analysis, leading to your photos being searchable. And the photo and video editing apps available in big tech app stores silently harvest your data, send your media off to third parties, and sell them to the highest bidder.

Most people don’t even know all this is happening when they snap a photo or edit a video.

Join us for a FREE Webinar: Media Mastery: Open-Source Photo & Video Editing
📅 Monday, September 29, at 12 pm CDT

LEARN HOW TO:
✅ Take high-definition photos and videos with Above Phone
✅ Use special photo modes like panorama and HDR
✅ Organize and protect sensitive photos in a vault
✅ Perform basic photo and video editing on Above Phone

BONUS: Exclusive Above Phone discount for attendees!

We’ll also review how Android and iOS users can adjust their settings to increase the privacy and security of the media on their devices.

It’s hard to escape AI on big tech devices. Assistants, chatbots, and more are popping up around every corner.

AI in the taskbar. Advertisements in your search. Surveillance of your activities. Give your kids a privacy-respecting computer that serve them, not a faceless big tech company.