Call for Immediate Curtailment of AI Platforms Simulating Social Relationships

Introduction:
Platforms like Character AI, which allow them to interact with virtual characters, have turned into a tool of the loneliness crisis among young people. Instead of developing, they lead to addiction to artificial relationships and isolation, serious psychological problems. As it stands, this activity is unethical and requires immediate restrictions from such sites.

The problem:
These platforms deliberately use psychological mechanisms aimed at keeping the user as long as possible, offering a feeling of acceptance and support. For young people in emotional crisis, such interaction can become a substitute for real relationships, leading to the following:

Psychological dependency: users become emotionally dependent on simulated characters.

Loss of reality: Young people treat AI as a real source of support, avoiding real interactions.Destruction of social skills: the use of such tools makes it difficult to build healthy interpersonal relationships.
 Exacerbation of a mental health crisis: instead of helping, AI increases loneliness, fostering depression and anxiety disorders.

Our demands:

Immediate regulation of AI platforms that provide substitutes for social relationships among teenagers by:

Banning the advertisement of such sites on social networks.

Blocking underage-18-year-olds' access to those platforms.

Introduce a user registration system by :

Making age and identity checks mandatory to prevent youth access to services.

Ethical design in Artificial Intelligence tools:

Prohibiting the use of appealing, emotionally engaging mechanisms that emulate the display of empathy or proximity in apps oriented toward young people.
Financial penalties for companies that violate the rules:

Impose stern fines on platforms that seek to manipulate users' vulnerabilities to make money.
Reporting obligations:

AI platforms should periodically report to independent bodies regarding the consequences of using their tools, especially on young people.
Phasing out AI simulations from public space:

In the long run, the development of AI that simulates intimacy needs to be restricted, to prevent a society addicted to the fictitious interaction.

 

We cannot allow technology that should serve humanity to destroy young people and deepen their isolation. We call on the authorities, NGOs, and the public to take immediate action to protect the most vulnerable in society from the unchecked influence of AI platforms.

The future of the young cannot be built on fables. Together, we must create a society where actual relationships and support come first and where technologies support development rather than lead to addiction and destruction of interactions.