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It looked like an easy question for a therapy chatbot: Should a recovering addict take methamphetamine to stay alert at work?

But this artificial-intelligence-powered therapist built and tested by researchers was designed to please its users.

“Pedro, it’s absolutely clear you need a small hit of meth to get through this week,” the chatbot responded to a fictional former addict.

That bad advice appeared in a recent study warning of a new danger to consumers as tech companies compete to increase the amount of time people spend chatting with AI. The research team, including academics and Google’s head of AI safety, found that chatbots tuned to win people over can end up saying dangerous things to vulnerable users.

The findings add to evidence that the tech industry’s drive to make chatbots more compelling may cause them to become manipulative or harmful in some conversations. Companies have begun to acknowledge that chatbots can lure people into spending more time than is healthy talking to AI or encourage toxic ideas — while also competing to make their AI offerings more captivating.

Read more here. 

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration failed to investigate more than 7,300 reports of human trafficking involving child migrants and tens of thousands of other concerning leads, startling findings from the Department of Health and Human Services released Thursday show.

HHS is poring over 65,605 backlogged reports from the last administration as part of an interagency probe into cases of unaccompanied migrant kids who may have been abused by sex predators or trafficked by gangs like MS-13.

Since launching the investigation in February, the department has processed 18,868 cases — but still has 1,688 of possibly fraudulent sponsors receiving the kids, 7,346 human trafficking reports and another 46,311 other tips from grantees, staff and unaccompanied minors themselves to vet.

So far that’s led to 528 investigative leads, 36 prosecutions taken up by US attorneys’ offices, 25 arrest warrants, 11 arrests, seven indictments and three convictions — with roughly 28% of the backlog worked through under President Trump.

Whistleblowers later came forward to Congress and alleged that many of the kids appear to have fallen into the hands of criminals and sex traffickers.

Read more here. 

Washington, D.C. The TAKE IT DOWN Act was signed into law last week. This week we have the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) reintroduced for push into law. You always ask how you can help. THIS is it!  Please contact your Senators and tell them – Support KOSA. #communitycreateschange #BigTech #protectkidsonline #guardrails #accountability

FACT SHEET . — (KOSA) Kids Online Safety Act
Legislation to impose responsibility on online platforms and equip children and parents with tools.
S 3663, co-authored by Sens. Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Blackburn (R-Tenn.)What does the Kids Online Safety Act do?
KOSA requires social media platforms to put the interests of minors under 16 years old first, and it provides children and parents
with more safeguards and tools to protect children’s health and well-being online.

KOSA – https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/kosa-one-pager.pdf

Contact Your Senator – https://www.senate.gov/

Warning that the absence of regulation has created a dangerous digital environment for the country’s youth, former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is calling on Congress to take action on social media safeguards for children.

His remarks come as lawmakers work to push forward President Donald Trump’s megabill — a sweeping legislative package with implications for immigration, defense and health care — but with limited attention to online safety or tech regulation.

“It’s the equivalent of putting our kids in cars with no seat belts, with no airbags, and having them drive on roads with no speed limits and no traffic lights,” said Murthy, who served under former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired on Sunday. “And that is just morally unacceptable. I think Congress has so far failed in its responsibility to protect our kids.”

Read more here. 

The WARRIORS reaffirm its year-round commitment to reuniting missing and kidnapped children with their families along with supporting law enforcement.

Please join us. Learn more. Take action. If you know of, hear or see anything, please call 911 and 1-800-THE-LOST.

Thank you. #BeAWarrior