Statewide Iowa (RI) — A bill being considered in the Iowa House would require chatbots to have age verification screening, and developers of chatbots that provide mental health counseling would have to show the chatbot was tested in clinical trials and deemed safe for minors to use.
Republican Representative Ray Sorensen of Greenfield says he doesn’t want to ban Iowans under the age of 18 from using chatbots, but he says there should be safeguards to protect kids.
The bill would limit the collection and storage of user information to what is necessary for the chatbot to fulfill the purpose of the interaction.
In December, President Trump said a patchwork of state regulations on artificial intelligence will slow AI’s development and he’s threatened to withhold federal funding from states with burdensome regulations of chatbots and other AI limitations. Sorenson says he plans to narrow the bill so it wouldn’t lead to federal sanctions.
Another bill introduced in the Iowa House would require a chatbot to notify users that it is not human at the start of an interaction and, if the chat continues, every half hour after that.
KIWA Staff Photo
