Ex-Google safety chief warns AI could harm children more than social media did
Siegel said major AI companies are rolling out features to children without enough safeguards and warned of risks ranging from suicide to psychosis.
- On Tuesday, former Google trust and safety vice president Tom Siegel announced he joined the Youth AI Safety Institute as its first executive director. Common Sense Media, established in 2003, launched the non-profit to assess children's AI use.
- Siegel previously led Google's trust and safety team from 2004 to 2019, departing after concluding the industry was "plateauing" in its ability to create safe online spaces. He then co-founded TrustLab, a startup focused on detecting safety threats.
- Warning that AI poses deeper threats to children than social media, Siegel suggested the industry faces "very, very severe scenarios of harm," including suicide, psychosis, and cognitive offloading. He criticized major companies for rolling out features without sufficient guardrails.
- Developing independent safety standards for AI firms is the institute's top priority, Siegel said. Backed by Anthropic and OpenAI Foundation, he aims to measure risks through methods similar to vehicle crash testing.
- Companies failing to act risk future regulation and lawsuits, Siegel added. OpenAI stated it uses "account and behavioral signals" to identify underage users, while Google noted parents can disable search access entirely.
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24 Articles
Ex-Google safety chief warns AI could harm children more than social media did
The founder of the trust and safety team at Alphabet’s Google this week called for a slowdown in AI development, warning that the tech industry was repeating the same mistakes from the social media era, potentially causing even greater harm to children.
Ex-chief of Google safety team warns AI will harm kids
The founder of the trust and safety team at Alphabet’s Google has called for a slowdown in AI development, warning that the tech industry was repeating the same mistakes from the social media era, potentially causing even greater harm to children. Social media companies are paying out huge sums and facing thousands of lawsuits over claims they harmed young users, while governments around the world are working to curb minors' access to their pla…
(San Francisco = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kwon Young-jeon = A former executive who led Google's safety team [said that] artificial intelligence (AI) is more... to children and adolescents than social networking services (SNS)...
AI can do more harm to children than social networks — Google security researcher <p>Tom Siegel warned that AI could hurt children more than social networks. He called for stronger external control over the industry</p>.
The former vice president of trust and security of the technological giant warned that AI could harm children more than networks
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