Young People's Alliance Proud to Support Bipartisan Protecting Kids from Human-Like Chatbots Act

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Rep. Whitesides, Rep. Miller-Meeks, Rep. Matsui, and Rep. Kennedy introduced landmark bipartisan legislation, the Protecting Kids from Human-Like Chatbots Act, enacting guardrails to prevent minors from forming emotional relationships with AI chatbots. Young People's Alliance (YPA) is proud to support this legislation, as it is one of the strongest reflections of our Human-Like AI Framework and the subsequent advocacy of the bipartisan coalition who endorsed it.

"We don't want to live in a future where a young person's first friend is a chatbot. This bill would make sure we avoid that future, and it's the strongest AI chatbot safety bill in the country. It targets the design features that actually cultivate emotional dependence, like chatbots simulating feelings and relationships, while still letting young people access AI's real benefits." - Mick Tobin, 23, Advocacy Director & Cofounder, Young People's Alliance

The Protecting Kids from Human-Like Chatbots Act accomplishes this through the following:

Prevents AI friendships for minors: Rather than solely focusing on extreme cases, like self-harm, this bill aims to entirely prevent AI friendships with minors by requiring chatbots to be non-personified. This is paramount to preventing the rise of AI friends that act as a crutch for lonely young people, temporarily improving mood while reducing their ability to build relationships.

Definitions include general-purpose chatbots: These guardrails will apply to chatbots like ChatGPT and Grok, not just explicit AI companions like Replika, extending the base of young people who will be protected.

Addresses constitutionality concerns: The Protecting Kids from Human-Like Chatbots Act allows parents and schools to override non-personification, ensuring constitutionality. However, this bill is designed with feedback from civil society groups to prevent circumvention, preserving friction to prevent human-like AI from becoming normalized.

Uses a strong knowledge standard: Creating this standard allows Big Tech companies to be held accountable for targeting platform users they knew were minors. It is also complementary with the App Store Accountability Act and device-based age verification.

Targets both developers and deployers: For example, OpenAI would be enlisted in stemming the tide of hundreds of small startups that have emerged using their API to create sexbots targeted at children.

We urge civil society organizations to support this bill and legislators to uphold the values of families and children's connection and building, as a child's best friend should be a child, not a companion chatbot.