Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere. AI programs help to edit our writing, find ideas for dinner, and alert us when our cars need maintenance. ChatGPT exploded in the office, in medicine, and yes, in our children’s classrooms. Now, though, all 50 state attorney generals are sounding the alarm about the dangers of AI lurking around the corner.

Ohio Attorney General, Dave Yost, signed a letter along with every state attorney general in America urging Congress to act swiftly to prevent abuse of artificial intelligence programs. According to a press release from the AG Yost’s office, the attorneys general listed several concerns that “AI is creating a “new frontier for abuse,” including:

• Ill-intentioned users of AI technology can create images of child sex abuse by simply typing a short description of what they want to see. The technology can superimpose the face of one person onto the body of another, creating deep fake images that combine photos of victimized children with photos of otherwise unvictimized children.
• the technology can generate images of sex abuse depicting children who do not actually exist. They argue that this is equally problematic because such images also “support the growth of the child exploitation market by normalizing child abuse and stoking the appetites of those who seek to sexualize children.”
• Misuse of AI technology can jeopardize the safety and privacy of children by predicting their location or mimicking their voices.

In their letter, the attorneys general ask Congress to establish an expert commission to study how the technology can be misused at the expense of children. The letter stresses the urgent need for congressional action, saying “the proverbial walls of the city have already been breached. Now is the time to act.”