AI Chatbots Pose Risk to Children, Push for Regulation of Developers

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will propose to the G7 group a plan to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) developers.

The aim of the rules is to prevent the spread of misinformation, by raising public awareness to distinguish between images and information produced by AI and those that are not generated by algorithms.

The guidelines are expected to be proposed as early as this fall, at a virtual meeting of the world's seven largest economies (G7).

Snap Inc. has been accused of failing to adequately and accurately assess children's data privacy risks when it launched an AI chatbot.

The report said Japan is concerned about complex images and information generated by AI, which could confuse the public and threaten economic stability.

Meanwhile, the UK data watchdog said AI chatbots could pose privacy risks to children, in this case the “My AI” chatbot developed by US technology company Snapchat.

Authorities say Snapchat may have failed to properly assess the privacy risks to children posed by the AI chatbot it launched in April. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has said that if the US company fails to adequately address the regulator's concerns, it will consider banning the AI app across the country.

“The initial findings of the investigation suggest that Snap failed to adequately and accurately assess the privacy risks to children and other users before launching the AI application,” the ICO said.

However, the regulator's statement does not mean that Snapchat, a messaging app widely used by young people in the UK, has breached data protection laws.

Snap said it was reviewing the ICO’s notice and was committed to protecting user privacy. “Our AI went through a robust privacy and legal review process before being made publicly available,” the US tech company said. “We will continue to work constructively with the ICO to address concerns about our risk assessment processes.”

The ICO is investigating how “My AI” processed the personal data of around 21 million Snapchat users in the UK, including children aged 13-17.

The app, developed by Snapchat, is powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT — the most famous example of generative AI that policymakers around the world are looking to regulate amid privacy and safety concerns.

Social media networks, including Snapchat, require users to be 13 or older, but have not always been successful in preventing underage children from using their platforms.

Previously, in August 2023, Reuters reported that regulators were gathering information to determine whether the messaging app was effectively removing underage users from its platform.

(According to Bloomberg, Reuters)

Meta uses Facebook, Instagram user data to train AI chatbots

Meta said it uses users' public Facebook and Instagram posts to train its new artificial intelligence (AI) virtual assistant, but excludes content shared only with family and friends.