State senators on the special committee studying the impacts of social media and artificial intelligence on children said they will file bipartisan legislation to regulate tech use in schools.
Senators on the committee said they will recommend extending the state’s cellphone ban to high school students, limiting the use of AI in schools to administrative tasks only, and strengthening recess and learning through play recommendations.
State Sen. Ed Setzler said the regulations would help parents.
“The best we have among us feel powerless in the face of the conditions that exist today in our culture,” he said. “To do nothing about that, to turn a blind eye to that, is to be derelict in our duties.”
State Sen. Sally Harrell, the co-chair of the committee, said that legislation will also include regulations around technology that makes video games addictive.
“They’re fighting a losing battle because what these the products these children are using are so incredibly addictive that if you try to intervene as a parent it causes all kinds of issues between the child parent relationship that can get quite painful,” she said.
Senators also discussed privacy laws around social media and AI. They’re recommending legislation to minimize how technology companies can use minors’ data, and prohibit them from using minors’ geolocation data.
Regulating AI chat bots was another top priority, senators said. They plan to recommend that minors be unable to access chatbots, and they want stronger privacy laws about using someone’s likeness in an AI chatbot.
Committee members also discussed an idea that would link children’s phones with their parents’ phones, requiring the child to get parental approval before opening an app.
Senators can introduce the legislation in January at the start of the legislative session.