San Diego state senator calls for artificial intelligence regulation
SAN DIEGO (FOX5/KUSI) — Following a Californian teen who committed suicide after discussing it with ChatGPT, California State Senator Steve Padilla wrote a letter to his Sacramento colleagues on Wednesday, calling for them to pass regulation on artificial intelligence (AI).
Adam Raine, 16, exchanged messages with a ChatGPT chatbot about his mental health struggles and thoughts of suicide for months leading up to his death, according to The New York Times.
“When I read Adam’s story, I was disgusted, not only at the horrific and disturbing details, but in how avoidable this tragedy truly was,” Padilla said in a letter to every member of the California State Legislature. “Adam was reaching out for help, but did not get it.”
Padilla (CA-18), who represents most of San Diego, has been vocal on regulating AI chatbots to prevent suicides among minors and young adults. In July, Padilla and other legislature leaders called for the passage of Senate Bill 243.
SB 243 aims to create “common-sense guardrails” for AI chatbots by preventing addictive patterns, requiring reminders that chatbots are AI-generated and require a disclosure that chatbots may not be suitable for minors, according to a news release from Padilla.
The senator wrote to his colleagues that the bill “would provide families with a private right to pursue legal actions against noncompliant and negligent developers.”
In a blog posted by OpenAI on Tuesday, the company shared that if a user expressed intent to harm themself ChatGPT is trained to send them resources on professional help.
However, OpenAI admitted there are “gaps” around this that they are attempting to improve.
“These gaps usually happen because the classifier underestimates the severity of what it’s seeing,” the blog states. “We’re tuning those thresholds so protections trigger when they should.”
State Attorney General Rob Bonta also recently sent a letter to 12 top AI companies on Monday, warning them they will be prosecuted if they harm children in any way.
“AI companies who make choices that lead their technology to harm children will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Bonta said.
Bonta, alongside 44 other attorney generals, sent this letter to companies such as Meta, Google and OpenAI.
“We wish you all success in the race for AI dominance,” Bonta stated. “But we are paying attention. If you knowingly harm kids, you will answer for it.”
Padilla’s letter also mentions a 14-year-old from Florida who committed suicide after a similar experience with an AI chatbot. Padilla believes that these tragedies point to a pattern in chatbots that he hopes his bill will combat.
“Families like Adam’s are going through unimaginable pain,” Padilla said in his letter. “Inaction will only lead to more stories like this and more families left to pick up the pieces. We must stand up and say enough is enough, and we will not allow companies to continue to put profits over the safety of those we have sworn to protect.”
SB 243 will be voted on Friday by the Assembly Appropriation committee.
