I move:

That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to prohibit the making available of certain artificial intelligence companion services to children, to provide for age-assurance measures and to confer functions on Coimisiún na Meán; to amend the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022; and to provide for related matters.

This should be the best and safest country in the world in which to grow up. That principle should apply to all we do. Colleagues here will know I am an evangelist for technology and artificial intelligence where it can be used responsibly to solve many of our challenges. We can use technology to help children in the area of education and, with parental safeguards, in the area of children's play. I have my doubts about the efficacy of a social media ban for those under the age of 16.

This legislation seeks to address the challenge of the growth of chatbots targeted at children, especially where there are no safeguards in place. We definitely need to be quite worried, and this relates to the last question raised, about the rise of the anthropomorphic chatbot that has human characteristics where the child will feel that he or she is interacting with a human. There are enormous challenges with chatbots being developed that are targeted at children. Children are being found to have developed attachments and emotional bonds. In many ways, it is found they can engage more readily with chatbots than with their human peers. From that, there is the danger that the skills we all take for granted in terms of empathy and human emotion will be compromised. There is also the danger of inaccurate advice from some chatbots leading children to have destructive thoughts and impacting on their mental health and on loneliness. People think the robots are coming and this is abstract but there are already quite a number of chatbots, particularly anthropomorphic chatbots, aimed at children.

When preparing this Bill, I did not anticipate the proposal at EU level under the EU KIDS Act, which will look to address some of these measures.

It is critical that when some of these products are rolled out the principle of safety by design is embedded within this and we look to a situation whereby we prevent an emotional dependency by children on these AI devices. If the EU KIDS Act does not proceed quickly enough, we should move here in this State to try to address it. I am very conscious that at present the US Federal Trade Commission is already investigating the interaction and monetisation of chatbots that mimic human conversation and emotion.

Regarding the EU KIDS Act and the principles that underpin this, the design of a chatbot cannot be used to simulate a human relationship with a child. We have got to build that into our own legislation. This Bill proposes establishing a prohibition on the making available of specific AI companion services and intimate AI friendship and companion services to children. It will empower Coimisiún na Meán to supervise and enforce compliance and will amend the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act regarding the provision of these services. In particular, the online safety codes will apply to cover any of these chatbots that are aimed at children. I am very conscious about how quickly the technology is changing. It is very difficult for us as legislators to keep up. The Government is moving in a way as quickly as possible but in this specific area around the protection of children it is vital that we now take action.

There is always a challenge for backbenchers introducing Private Members' Bills in progressing them beyond the First Stage of debate. I ask the Chief Whip to consider at the Business Committee a provision that on, for instance, Thursdays a number of Private Members' Bills could be considered. We have statements on all sorts of issues during the week whereas there is limited enough time to allow for further debate on legislation, which on particularly important issues like this we should have.

Is the Bill being opposed?

Not opposed.

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."