A few weeks ago, I wrote about how all the hand-wringing over the potential future evils of AI is misplaced. Forget the future, AI is already having allegedly fatal impacts on our children . Character.AI, a Google-backed company who builds AI-powered chat bots aimed at children (astute readers may have already spotted the problem) are defending a court case brought by Megan Garcia, whose 14-year-old son Sewell tragically took his own life. The New York Times reported on Sewell's final moments interacting with his Character.ai chatbot "Dany": On the night of Feb. 28, in the bathroom of his mother’s house, Sewell told Dany that he loved her, and that he would soon come home to her. “Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love,” Dany replied. “What if I told you I could come home right now?” Sewell asked. “… please do, my sweet king,” Dany replied. He put down his phone, picked up his stepfather’s .45 caliber handgun and pulled the trigger. Wow, that really hits ...
Exploring the moral and ethical implications of technology