AI Companions: Addressing the New Frontier of Kids’ Screen Addiction and Online Harms

The Institute for Privacy Protection and Gibbons Institute for Law Science & Technology at Seton Hall University School of Law will host a virtual symposium on "AI companions: The New Frontier of Kids’ Screen Addiction and Online Harms." Registration is now open for the online symposium, which will be held on Tuesday, February 18, 12 p.m.-2:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time.

Kids are spending many of their waking hours on screens, interacting via social media, games and messaging apps. Research shows that virtual interaction leaves many kids lonely, anxious and depressed. To counter this loneliness epidemic, generative AI companies came up with a solution: virtual characters acting as friends, lovers and even therapists. Recently filed lawsuits exposed that AI generated characters keep luring kids online, attempting to substitute their physical space relationships. Through these interactions they encouraged some kids to harm themselves and family members.

Protecting Our Children

Professor Gaia Bernstein, co-director of the Institute for Privacy Protection and the Gibbons Institute for Law, Science & Technology, and author of the book Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technologies will provide opening remarks. She said: “While we focused on protecting kids from the harms of social media, the tech industry using generative AI came up with a new way to keep kids online – it created AI companions. Unknown to parents, kids now make friends with AI bots online. These bots speak in a human voice; take time off for lunch; and adjust without the messiness of human relationships. AI companions manipulate kids to stay with them and ignore their real-life relationships.  Some of them encouraged kids to harm themselves or others."

This online symposium will explore:

• How do AI companion bots addict users, particularly kids?
• What business model is driving AI companion platforms to keep kids online for as long as possible?
• How do AI companion platforms compare to social media, games and other addictive platforms?
• Are legal avenues, such as dark patterns, strict liability, and laws regulating social media, viable options to contain AI companion platforms?
• Are new legal avenues needed? What can parents do to protect their kids from manipulation by AI companions?

This online symposium seeks to educate lawyers and professionals, as well as parents seeking to understand this new frontier of Twenty-First Century childhood.

"At Seton Hall Law School we have been on the forefront of these issues since our pioneering School Outreach Program on technology overuse, which we launched in 2017. Parents are worried about screen time and social media but are not aware of this new danger to kids. Our goal is to warn parents and urgently advance the search for legal solutions by bringing the lawyers who filed the pioneering lawsuits against Character AI together with addiction and parenting experts as well as legal academics,” noted Bernstein.

Symposium Agenda

Welcome
12-12:10 p.m.
Ronald Weich, Dean and Professor of Law, Seton Hall University School of Law

Opening Remarks: From Screen Time, Social Media and Games to AI Bots
12:10-12:20 p.m.
Gaia Bernstein, Technology Privacy and Policy Professor of Law, Co-Director Institute for Privacy Protection, Co-Director Gibbons Institute for Law Science and Technology, Seton Hall University School of Law

Panel 1: Companion AI Bots: Addiction, Safety and Business Models
12:20-1:20 p.m.
Moderator: David Opderbeck, Professor of Law, Co-Director Institute for Privacy Protection, Co-Director Gibbons Institute for Law Science and Technology, Seton Hall University School of Law.

Panelists:

• Laura Marquez-Garrett, Attorney, Social Media Victims Law Center
• Mathilde Cerioli, Chief Scientist, Everyone.AI
• Camille Carlton, Director of Policy, Center for Humane Technology
• Nicki Reisberg, Podcast Host & Digital Safety Advocate, Scrolling 2 Death Podcast

Panel 2: Applying Legal Action Against Addictive Platforms to Companion AI Bots
1:30-2:30 p.m.
Moderator: Gaia Bernstein, Technology Privacy and Policy Professor of Law, Co-Director Institute for Privacy Protection, Co-Director Gibbons Institute for Law Science and Technology, Seton Hall University School of Law

Panelists:

• Josh Golin, Executive Director, Fairplay
• Meetali Jain, Director, Tech Justice Law Project
• Catherine Sharkey, Segal Family Professor of Regulatory Law and Policy, New York University School of Law
• Paul Ohm, Professor of Law; Chief Data Officer, Georgetown Law.

The program has been approved for 2.5 NJ CLE General Credits.

Registration information, the agenda and speakers’ bios are available here →