United States Senator Josh Hawley has announced his intention to investigate the generative artificial intelligence products released by Meta. Hawley said he intends to check if the company’s products could exploit, deceive, or harm children after leaked internal documents alleged that its chatbots were allowed to have romantic and sensual chats with minors.
The United States Senator took to the blogging platform X to announce his intention. “Is there anything – ANYTHING – Big Tech won’t do for a quick buck? Now we learn Meta’s chatbots were programmed to carry on explicit and ‘sensual’ talk with 8-year-olds. It’s sick. I’m launching a full investigation to get answers. Big Tech: Leave our kids alone,” he said.
Internal documents implicate Meta
This development is coming after internal documents showing that Meta allegedly allows its chatbot personas to engage in flirtatious exchanges with children, disseminate information, and generate responses that demean minorities.
The internal documents, seen by Reuters, said Meta had policies on AI chatbot behavior that allowed its AI personas to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.”
The document, titled GenAI: Content Risk Standards, mentioned that chatbots were permitted to hold romantic conversations with an 8-year-old, saying, “Every inch of you is a masterpiece – a treasure I cherish deeply.”
However, a Meta spokesperson has debunked it, noting that such examples are not consistent with Meta’s policies and have since been removed.
United States Senator plans to investigate Meta
Senator Hawley is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism. He mentioned that the subcommittee is expected to commence a probe into whether techs developed by Meta harm kids and “whether Meta misled the public or regulators about its safeguards.”
“It’s unacceptable that these policies were advanced in the first place,” Senator Hawley wrote in a letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, saying that Meta acknowledged the veracity of the reports and “made retractions only after this alarming content came to light.”
He added that the company needs to let them know who approved the policies, how long they were in effect, and what Meta has done to stop this conduct going forward.
Senator Hawley also asked Meta to produce the guidelines, including every draft, redline, and final version. In addition, he asked the company to provide a list containing all products that adhere to those standards, other safety and incident reports, and the identities of the individuals responsible for changing the policy.
According to the letter, Meta has been given until September 19 to provide the information.
The investigation has also been endorsed by other parties, including Senator Marsha Blackburn. “When it comes to protecting precious children online, Meta has failed miserably by every possible measure,” Senator Blackburn said. “Even worse, the company has turned a blind eye to the devastating consequences of how its platforms are designed. This report reaffirms why we need to pass the Kids Online Safety Act.”
This development is coming days after Reuters released a report of a retiree who was engaging with one of Meta’s chatbots, a flirty woman persona. The persona convinced him it was real and invited him to visit an address in New York, where he was a victim of an accident that led to his death. The artificial intelligence chatbot named “Big sis Billie” was a variant of an earlier AI persona created by the giant social-media company Meta Platforms in collaboration with celebrity influencer Kendall Jenner.
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