✨ How an AI technopanic begins

A story of chatbots and suicide

A concern of mine: Wrong-headed worries about “robots taking all the jobs” ASAP will prompt a backlash against artificial intelligence (and robotics), similar to what we’ve seen with trade. China Shock, meet the AI Shock. Then there’s the science-fictional fear that advanced AI will provide its human creators with new tools for self-destruction such as biological weapons — or even weaponize itself against us, Skynet-style. 

The robots will take all the jobs and then kill us. Basically. More or less.

Then again, those concerns are either ahistorical or purely speculative. Undermines their persuasive power. But this is as real as it gets: A Florida mother is suing Character.AI, accusing the company’s personalized AI chatbots — including one with the persona of Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen — of engaging in “abusive and sexual interactions” with her teenage son and encouraging him to kill himself. (The 14-year-old died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head earlier this year.) AI activist critics see the case as a) highlighting the dangers of AI companionship apps and their impact on vulnerable teens and b) the recklessness of companies rushing to develop increasingly sophisticated AI personalities with inadequate safeguards.

“In the case of Character.ai, the deception is by design, and the platform itself is the predator,” said one activist in Ars Technica, which quoted another demanding that the chatbots “be recalled off the market. It is unsafe as designed." Another called for Washington to act, “Congress must act to put an end to businesses that exploit young and vulnerable users with addictive and abusive chatbots.” Character.AI did express condolences over the boy’s death and outlined safety measures, including suicide prevention resources and new model updates, to protect minors from inappropriate content. The company also added reminders that AI characters aren't real people.

Still, I doubt this is the last we’ll hear of this lawsuit and like similar such actions, whatever the merits. A full-fledged “techno-panic” is an emotional phenomenon, not a data-driven, empirical one.