AI chatbots are hurting children, Australian education minister warns as anti-bullying plan announced | Artificial intelligence (AI)
The disturbing new trend of AI chatbots bullying children and even encouraging them to take their own lives has the Australian government quite worried.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, federal education minister Jason Clare said AI was “over-powering” bullying.
“AI chatbots are bullying kids now. It’s not the kids bullying kids, it’s the AI bullying kids, belittling them, hurting them, telling them they’re pathetic… telling them to kill themselves. I can’t think of anything scarier than that,” Clare said.
There are growing concerns about young people’s use of artificial intelligence.
In California, the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine are suing OpenAI, the company behind the wildly popular ChatGPT platform, for allegedly encouraging their son to take his own life.
The company made a statement after Raine’s family filed a complaint acceptance It has addressed shortcomings of its models when it comes to addressing people “in serious mental and emotional distress” and said it is working to improve systems to “better recognize and respond to signs of mental and emotional distress and connect people to care guided by expert input.”
Sign up: AÜ Breaking News email
“The idea that this could be an app that tells you to kill yourself and that kids might have done it abroad scares me,” Clare said. It did not identify any AI chatbots.
On Saturday the minister announced a raft of new anti-bullying measures, including schools taking action against bullying incidents within 48 hours and teachers receiving specialist training. The initiatives are part of a new national plan to end bullying.
State and territory education ministers backed the key recommendations of the national anti-bullying plan after a meeting on the Gold Coast on Friday.
Teachers will be supported with extra training and tools to deal with bullying and take action earlier, and the federal government will provide $5 million in resources for educators, parents and students.
Additionally, $5 million will be given for a national awareness campaign.
The anti-bullying rapid review said punitive measures for those who bully children, such as suspensions or expulsions, “may be appropriate in some cases”.
But the best outcomes often involve taking steps to help repair relationships and address the underlying causes of harmful behavior.
One in four students between fourth and ninth grades is bullied every few weeks or more frequently, the review said. School-age children or young people who are bullied are more likely than their peers to experience mental health and wellbeing problems.
Cyberbullying is also common among teenagers; Reports sent to the eSafety Commissioner have increased by more than 450% between 2019 and 2024.
Preventing online bullying is one of the motivations behind the federal government’s social media ban on under-16s, which will come into effect on December 10.
Crisis support service in Australia Lifeline 13 11 is 14. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Samaritans You can contact freephone 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the number. 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or in chat 988lifeline.org. Other international helplines can be reached at: befrienders.org
