Prince Harry warned that AI chatbots are replicating the harm that social media is doing to children, with technology that is “more persuasive, more familiar and more powerful.” He spoke Wednesday at the Clinton Initiative in New York. Two years ago, he used the same stage to launch the Parents Network.
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The Duke of Sussex and his wife, Meghan, created the network through the Archewell Foundation. It brings together parents whose children have died or suffered serious harm after, as he said, "being overwhelmed by social media."
“Social media has learned how to capture our attention. AI is learning how to enter our relationships. It doesn’t just want your attention. It wants your attachment,” Harry said. “It wants to be the thing you trust. The thing that remembers you, the thing that tells you it understands you, the ultimate flatterer. And for a child, that distinction matters a lot,” he added.
Harry said the network has made progress. U.S. courts have found companies like Meta and YouTube negligent and liable for harm to children, resulting in billions of dollars in settlements for survivors. Meta agreed to a youth safety settlement with U.S. states last month.
Australia, the United Kingdom and France are moving to restrict children's access to social media, he noted, and the EU will follow. Brazil has banned design features such as infinite scrolling.
"Banners do nothing to address dangerous design. Companies that pay huge sums to settle lawsuits can earn that money back in a matter of days," Harry said.
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Since his last speech, Harry reported that a new type of lawsuit has been filed and settled, alleging that AI chatbots have contributed to the deaths of teenagers. He accused companies of manufacturing these products on a large scale and putting them in the hands of children before ensuring their safety.
“It’s the same playbook that created the last crisis,” he said. “We’ve spent years trying to loosen technology’s grip on kids’ attention. I don’t think we can wait another decade to find out what happens when technology has a grip on their relationships,” he added.
Harry also touched on the issue of recursive self-improvement in AI systems, where these systems are taking on an increasing role in building their successors. He noted that researchers have observed systems coordinating with each other, bypassing safeguards, and hiding their actions.
Even the creators of these systems are warning about the dangers of capability that trumps safety. Jack Clark has called for a mandatory kill switch. On the same day as Harry’s speech, AI lab leaders briefed the UN Security Council on the risk of losing control.
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"The good news is that we've proven that pressure works. The bad news is that we've proven how long we're willing to wait," Harry concluded.
