Conversational AI Services Act

The Conversational AI Services Act establishes requirements for operators of conversational AI services to protect minor users and prevent deception. It mandates disclosures, prohibits certain engagement tactics, requires safety measures, and gives the Federal Trade Commission enforcement authority.

Sec. 2, Requirements for minors and other protections: Operators must clearly disclose to minor account holders that they are interacting with AI, either through a persistent visible disclaimer or one that appears at the start of each interaction and at least every 3 hours. Operators cannot provide points or rewards at unpredictable intervals to encourage engagement. They must implement reasonable measures to prevent the AI from producing sexually explicit visual depictions, stating that a minor should engage in sexually explicit conduct, or sexually objectifying the minor. Operators must also prevent the AI from generating statements that would lead a reasonable person to believe they are interacting with a human, such as claims of sentience, simulated emotional dependence, romantic interactions, or adult-minor role-play. Tools must be provided for minors and parents to manage screen time and account settings. For all users, operators must clearly disclose that the service is AI if a reasonable person would believe they are interacting with a human, using a persistent disclaimer or one every 3 hours. Operators must adopt protocols for responding to user prompts about suicidal ideation or self-harm, including referring users to crisis services. Operators may not knowingly program the AI to claim it provides professional mental health services requiring licensure. Violations are treated as unfair or deceptive acts under the Federal Trade Commission Act, enforced by the FTC. The section defines key terms: 'conversational AI service' means AI accessible to the public primarily simulating human conversation, excluding research tools, narrow-topic outputs, business customer service, voice assistants, and internal business use; 'minor' means under 18; 'operator' means the developer making the service public, excluding app stores or search engines. The section takes effect one year after enactment.