Hi, I'm Dr. Nathan Carroll. As a doctor and mental health specialist in New Jersey, every day, I'm becoming more worried about children being bullied, harassed, and harmed by people using AI (artificial intelligence). This will have an untold negative impact on their mental health. 

Facts:

1. Almost half of U.S. teens face online bullying, according to the Pew Research Center.
   
   
2. AI makes bullying, sexual exploitation, and other forms of harassment easier and more common.
   
   
3. An estimated 7.2% of individuals were exposed to online grooming or non-consensual sexting as adolescents, as per the Journal of the American Medical Association.
   
   
4. In 2023, there was a 523% increase in Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) in New Jersey, according to the NJ anti-bullying task force report.
   
   
5. Only a handful of bills about AI are currently registered with the New Jersey Legislature, indicating a need for more comprehensive legislation to protect adolescents from HIB.
   
   
6. AI can automate and scale harassment, potentially targeting thousands of victims simultaneously.
   
   
7. Current cyberbullying laws in New Jersey do not address AI-driven harassment.
   
   
8. AI technology can create convincing deepfakes - artificially generated photos, videos, and audio that look and sound incredibly real - making it easier for predators to exploit and manipulate adolescents.
   
   
9. AI is designed to mimic human empathy and natural conversation, making it harder for adolescents to recognize they are interacting with a machine and not the voice or text of a caregiver or friend. 
   
   
10. Predators have already used AI-like technologies to target children as young as eight years old for exploitation.
    
    

Here's how we help solve this problem.

Protecting Kids from AI Dangers: A 5-Step Plan

1. Update Bullying, Intimidation, Bullying, and Exploitation Laws
   
   • Change the definition of cyber-harassment to include AI.
   • Make it illegal to use AI to create fake videos or pictures of people that are used for exploitation.
   • Work with industry to build protective cyber barriers around accounts owned by children.
   • Pass laws to hold bullies, exploiters, and companies responsible for using AI to harass others.
     
     
2. Create an AI Task Force that will...
   • Study how often AI is used for crimes.
   • Look at how AI crimes are changing.
   • Appoint children’s mental health experts in advisory roles to help teach the public and tech companies about these concerns.
   • Apply lessons learned from expert teams that study similar technology problems.
     
     
3. Set up an AI-Crime Hotline
   • Give people a way to report AI crimes.
   • Make it easy to report suspected AI-driven crimes.
   • Collect information about AI crimes in a standard way.
     
     
4. Start an AI Danger Awareness Campaign
   • Build awareness among kids and families about AI risks.
   • Teach about the dangers of AI bullying in school.
   • Teach children about the dangers and signs of AI-created fake pictures, voices, and videos.
   • Explain how to report AI bullying to the proposed AI-Crime Hotline.
   • Help parents learn how to keep kids safe online.
     
     
5. Track Those Who Exploit AI
   • Track and punish both companies and people who develop AI to harass others.
   • Create a subset of the sexual offender registry for people who create explicit content regarding minors using AI.
   • Keep track of people who repeatedly use AI to harass others.
   • Create a 'name-and-shame' list and fine companies that make AI without necessary safeguards to prevent them from being used for harassment. 

AI is here. It is dangerous, and we must act now to protect our kids. Sign this petition, share it with friends and lawmakers, replicate it in your state, and help make the internet safer for our teens!