The EU Wants to Break Up Kids and Their Chatbots

Overview

The EU is proposing the EU Kids Act to regulate chatbots aimed at minors. The legislation aims to strip minor-facing chatbots of features that could foster emotional dependencies. Proposed on Thursday, the act includes restrictions on social media and video-sharing platforms alongside similar rules.

Core Restrictions

The EU plans to ban chatbots from simulating emotions or interpersonal relationships in interactions with anyone under the age of 18. This measure seeks to prevent children from developing unhealthy attachments to these technologies.

Key provisions include:

• Age limits: Children under 13 will be banned from accessing chatbots without their guardians' supervision.
• Memory limitations: Chatbots operating in the EU will not be allowed to retain memory of interactions between separate conversations, as the Commission fears this could lead to accumulation of sensitive data over time.
• Automatic activation bans: Platforms must not automatically activate or encourage AI chatbots on their services. This includes not pinning AI companions or general conversational chatbots at the top of a minor's contacts list-similar to how Snapchat previously handled such cases.

Penalties and Enforcement

Digital platforms that fail to comply will face fines of up to 6% of total worldwide turnover. These penalties are intended to ensure compliance with the new safety standards.

Broader Context

The EU's approach builds on its Digital Fairness Act, which is expected later this year to propose broader clamps down on addictive design. The Commission expresses concern that dependency on chatbots may negatively impact a child's development and human relationships, and that chatbots may provide dangerous advice on mental health and personal development.

President Ursula von der Leyen stated during a press conference: "Platforms have been playing fast and loose with children's mental health." She emphasized that around half of Europeans aged 11 to 25 have discussed intimate or personal matters with AI chatbots, according to an Ipsos BVA survey across France, Germany, Sweden, and Ireland.

Australia and the UK are also attempting to restrict minors' access to chatbots through their social media bans. Additionally, the EU highlights the harms of deepfakes generated by chatbots, noting that Europe has the power to act against practices like using girls' photos for AI-generated sexualized images.

Research and Expert Opinion

Research spanning 91 countries by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that children who use AI chatbots for schoolwork receive lower test scores compared to those who do not. Independent researchers from EU Kids Online warn that concerns about cognitive impacts and deskilling expose the absence of children's rights in the design of generative AI tools.

Simeon de Brouwer, a policy adviser at the Brussels-based advocacy group European Digital Rights, welcomed the chatbot measures but noted: "It doesn't make sense to restrict them to young people only." He questioned whether adults should not also be protected from AIs designed to be addictive or creating emotional dependencies.