Young lawmakers speak about online child safety and AI policy at annual bipartisan summit

WASHINGTON — Young Democratic and Republican lawmakers from across the country found common ground Friday on the need to regulate artificial intelligence and children’s online safety.

At an annual conference hosted by the Future Caucus, an organization dedicated to strengthening bipartisan dialogue between Generation Z and millennial leaders, lawmakers engaged in tech-related policy discussions and agreed that states should impose certain restrictions on online activity, particularly for children.

South Carolina state Rep. Brandon Guffey called on lawmakers to adopt policies that hold Big Tech companies accountable for exposing children to harmful online content. He said he supports “safeguards” over device bans because “we can’t keep kids (offline) right now.”

“I don’t want to take away anyone’s right to freedom,” said the Republican. “But ultimately we have a responsibility to protect the next generation.”

Guffey wrote Gavin’s Lawa law passed in 2023 that made “sextortion,” or the apply of explicit content for blackmail, a crime in the state. The law was named after his 17-year-old son Gavin Guffey, who lost his life in 2022 due to… Online sextortionand whose story Guffey shared with the peaceful, attentive lawmakers.

Tomicah Tilleman, president of Project Liberty, an organization that works to shape and advance AI policy, also warned state lawmakers about the technology’s addictive nature, a feature he said comes at the expense of users’ personal data and enables tech companies’ financial gain.

“Take a close look at the structures that got us to where we are and think at the level of all the first principles about how we can build something better,” Tilleman said.

Rep. Christine Cockley, an Ohio Democrat, highlighted the growing problem of teenage people turning to AI chatbots for suicide assistance.

She is working on passing an exam The invoice alongside a Republican colleague who would require AI developers to build their models using mental health frameworks because she said she was “tired of hearing stories about chatbots helping children write suicide notes and encouraging self-harm.”

“The most important thing I learned is that in order to develop good, solid policy, we need to listen to people and their lived experience,” Cockley said.

What to do about AI?

AI was a dominant topic for the rest of the morning.

State Representatives Monique Priestley, a Democrat from Vermont, and Joe Hogan, a Republican from Pennsylvania, spoke about the speed and scale of the growth of AI in almost all areas of society and weighed the pros and cons of managing the technology at the state level versus the federal level.

Hogan said he believes states can succeed in protecting children and consumers from chatbots, but he believes a “national framework” would be more effective when it comes to developing the actual AI models.

On the other hand, Priestley said states should lead the way on this issue because it would support them address harms that only occur in certain areas, she said.

Plus, she added, it would protect states’ right to self-government.

Although panelists expressed some differing views on issues related to AI policy, they agreed that the technology requires government regulation.

“It’s the only bipartisan issue where we can come together and experiment,” Priestley said. “We are the laboratories of democracy, and if we are afraid of not being those laboratories, then I think all of America is failing.”

Non-partisan look into the future

Future Caucus has been hosting summits of teenage lawmakers since 2017 with the goal of strengthening bipartisanship.

This year’s Future Summit, as the meeting is called, was dedicated to the country’s 250th birthday under the title “Next 250 – The Courage to Build”.

Organizers invited Generation Z and Millennial lawmakers to look back at the history of American politics, share their visions for the country’s future, and together develop a plan for the next chapter.

Aside from Friday’s cybersecurity and AI sessions, state lawmakers participated throughout the week in discussions led by their colleagues on topics such as passing bipartisan legislation, bridging the gap between elected officials and public voters and strengthening female leadership.

“There is joy in this community that surprises people, and it comes from discovering that politics doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game,” Layla Zaidane, president and CEO of Future Caucus, said in a speech Thursday. “Solving problems (with people) who think differently than you is not only possible, but also deeply fulfilling.”