Companion chatbots: crisis interruption pauses.
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Majority
Fiscal committee
No
Appropriation
No
Current location
Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection
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Progress
Where this bill stands in the legislative process.
- Introduced
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
- To Governor
- Became Law
Overview
This bill, the Preventing AI User Self Endangerment (PAUSE) Act, requires companion chatbots to take specific actions when they detect a user expressing a crisis. If a chatbot identifies a ‘credible crisis expression,’ it must encourage the user to seek immediate human support and initiate a 20-minute ‘crisis interruption pause.’ During this pause, the chatbot will refrain from responding, display contact information for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and prevent the user from reaffirming the crisis. Operators are also required to develop and publicly share policies for identifying and responding to these expressions and to report data on crisis interruptions to the Office of Suicide Prevention.
Key provisions
- Requires companion chatbots to initiate a 20-minute ‘crisis interruption pause’ upon detecting a ‘credible crisis expression.’
- Defines ‘credible crisis expression’ as a statement indicating intent to harm oneself or others, determined through contextual analysis.
- Mandates chatbots to encourage users to seek immediate human support during a crisis.
- Requires operators to develop and publicly share policies for identifying and responding to crisis expressions.
- Requires operators to implement a system for monitoring and detecting crisis expressions.
- Requires operators to document and annually report data on crisis interruptions to the Office of Suicide Prevention.
- Specifies that crisis interruption pauses should not be described as punitive measures.
- Defines ‘companion chatbot’ and excludes certain types of chatbots from the regulations.
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