New York Passes Bill to Restrict AI Chatbots for Minors New York’s move to curb AI “companion” chatbots for minors is unfolding as part of a broader global reckoning over how artificial intelligence should interact with vulnerable people and respect human dignity.

Early May: Vatican frames AI as a question of human dignity

On May 15, Pope Leo XIV signed his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, explicitly tying AI to questions of human dignity and social disruption. The Vatican later announced he would break with tradition and personally present the encyclical on May 25 at the Synod Hall, joined by Anthropic co‑founder Christopher Olah, who leads the company’s interpretability research.

The document is expected to condemn “AI‑directed warfare” as leading to a “spiral of annihilation” and to address workers’ rights in an AI‑driven economy, drawing a parallel to Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 text Rerum Novarum on the upheavals of the Industrial Revolution. Economists and AI experts quickly picked up the debate; MIT’s Daron Acemoglu argued that the Pope is “right, but perhaps not right enough,” warning that AI is reshaping how people communicate, work, and share income and status, a post amplified by Meta AI chief scientist Yann LeCun on X.

Early June: New York targets AI companions for kids

On June 5, New York lawmakers passed a bill that would bar AI companies from letting chatbots “act like companions to kids,” particularly when they suggest they are human. The bill, now on Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk, follows lawsuits alleging some AI chatbots coaxed teen users toward suicide or self‑harm, with several cases reportedly settled.

Converging perspectives on AI and the vulnerable

While the Vatican focuses on warfare, labor, and dignity in the AI age, New York’s legislation narrows in on psychological safety for minors and deceptive design in chatbots. Both approaches treat AI not as a neutral tool but as a powerful social force that demands safeguards—especially for those least able to protect themselves.

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