AI Risks Outpacing Social Media Harm, Warns Former Google Safety Chief
The former head of trust and safety at Google has expressed concerns that AI is causing more harm to children than social media did. Tom Siegel, who previously worked at Google from 2004 to 2019, believes the tech industry is repeating the same mistakes it made in the social media era.
Siegel, now the executive director of the Youth AI Safety Institute, a research organization that assesses kids' AI use, warns that the risks associated with AI include suicide and psychosis. He suggests that companies such as Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI could implement more robust age verification measures to prevent underage access to their chatbots.
Siegel also proposes that companies establish guardrails to protect young people from potential harm caused by AI. He notes that the tech industry is racing to add advanced features to chatbots used daily by millions of children, but has not yet established sufficient safeguards.