Under-16s could be banned from using AI chatbots, minister suggests
The government is considering banning children under 16 from using AI chatbots as part of its consultations to keep young people safe online.
Technology Minister Liz Kendall said the government was looking at whether artificial intelligence chatbots, similar to those being considered for social media, should also fall under age restrictions.
Ministers are under pressure to impose an Australian-style ban on social media for young people over concerns about the impact it could have on children’s wellbeing and development.
The government has launched a consultation to gather public opinion on a ban that will also look at how to limit addictive design features in AI chatbots and games.
Asked on Sunday whether the government was considering banning AI chatbots for those under 16, Ms Kendall said: “We’re certainly looking at individual characteristics as well as whether there are those age restrictions in general.”
Speaking on the BBC’s program with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, he said: “You had a whole program about AI chatbots and we are going to bring them under the Online Safety Act.
“We have introduced legislation that says AI chatbots will be brought under the Online Safety Act because they are illegal, and we will also bring them in because they are harmful to children.”
He added: “The question is not whether we will act, but how we will act.”
Despite nearly 50,000 responses to a government consultation on keeping children safe online, Ms Kendall called for more young people to respond before it closes in five weeks because the respondents have so far only included around 6,000 children.
Ms Kendall and the NSPCC will meet young people at the Childhood in the Age of AI summit on Monday to discuss how AI and technology are shaping childhood.
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer summoned technology chiefs to Downing Street on Thursday, saying the risks children face on social media “cannot continue as they are” but that he could not guarantee action would be taken to eliminate the harms by the summer.
Despite pressure from parents to ban under-16s from social media, some campaigners have warned MPs not to “rush” into the move after it was revealed the government had not done any internal modeling on its key impacts.
Peers have twice voted to impose an age limit on the Children’s Welfare and Schools Bill, but MPs recently rejected another proposal by the Lords to immediately block young people’s access to the platforms.
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said it had “not undertaken any modeling or analysis” of the impact such measures would have on areas such as mental health, access to news and how young people might overcome any restrictions.
In response to the Press Association’s Freedom of Information (FOI) request, the department said internal modeling had not been undertaken “as there is currently no clear, agreed evidence”.
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said: “Parents are rightly demanding the government take action to protect children online, but they want solutions to be effective and safe.
“It is crucial that the government follows all the available evidence on the under-16 social media ban before rushing, and the consultation provides an opportunity to do this.”
