Senate passes AI Bill of Rights as lawmakers debate parental opt-out

The Senate passed a measure to create an Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights to add new safeguards for students and vulnerable adults who might get confused by the technology.

The bill isn’t expected to advance the Legislature this Session since House Speaker Daniel Perez said he wants the federal government — not the states — to take the lead on AI reform, which is in line with President Donald Trump’s stance.

But in a 35-2 vote for SB 482, Senators said it was important to act now and put safety provisions in place.

“Come home. Come home, my sweet king,” Sen. Tom Leek said on the Senate floor Wednesday evening to introduce his bill.

That was what an AI chatbot said to a 14-year-old Orlando boy when he began considering suicide, the Ormond Beach Republican told lawmakers.

“There’s an inherent evilness when we allow machines to create and sustain a relationship that a user believes to be real. That evilness is only magnified when that machine interacts with a child or a vulnerable adult. You see algorithms like machines may learn. They may imitate human interaction. But machines can’t care. Machines can’t love,” Leek said.

Under Leek’s bill, companion chatbot platforms must post pop-up reminders they are AI at the beginning of an interaction and at least once every hour. The platforms must also remind users to log off and take a break. 

Parents would also be required to give consent for minors to use AI platforms. 

Governments would also be barred from entering into contracts involving AI with certain foreign countries, such as China and Russia.

Under an amendment approved Wednesday, the bill would bar students from using AI before sixth grade unless it is directed and supervised by school personnel, or used by students with disabilities or those learning English as a second language.

In addition, schools using AI would be required to give parents the option to opt their children out without any penalty.

Sen. Erin Grall, who voted against the bill along with Sen. Don Gaetz, wanted stronger parental controls and pushed to require an opt-in — instead of an opt-out. Grall feared busy parents might overlook the opt-out and argued AI needs a heightened level of parental consent.

“We are talking about high stakes with AI. We are talking about technology that requires information that’s sensitive to our child that gives them data outputs, … prediction, monitoring, something that can influence them,” Grall said. “We can’t treat this like all of the other opt-outs that we have in our statutes.”

Leek added the opt-out in the amendment as a compromise to Grall’s concerns. If parents had to opt in, he said he feared students with disabilities or learning English as a second language — the groups using AI now in schools — might be most affected if their parents aren’t paying attention.

Lawmakers called the bill a good first step to regulating AI and protecting young people and vulnerable adults.

“I just wanted to reiterate a little bit about the importance of this bill,” Sen. Gayle Harrell said. “We have got to address AI. This is the beginning of a whole conversation that’s going to take place over the next few years and we need to address it.