Australia is set to implement new regulations aimed at preventing children from engaging in sexual, violent, or harmful conversations with AI companions. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant is expected to announce the registration of six new codes under the Online Safety Act this week. This initiative is a first-of-its-kind move globally, designed to address the increasing number of children accessing harmful online content.

"If I do register these codes tomorrow, this will be the first comprehensive law in the world that will require the companies, before they deploy, to embed the safeguards and use the age assurance," Inman Grant stated in an interview. She emphasized the urgency of the situation, saying, "We don't need to see a body count to know that this is the right thing for the companies to do."

Reports from Australian schools indicate that children as young as 10 and 11 are spending up to six hours a day interacting with AI companions, many of which are sexualized chatbots. Inman Grant expressed her concern, stating, "I don't want to see Australian lives ruined or lost as a result of the industry's insatiable need to move fast and break things."

The proposed codes will apply to AI chatbot applications, social media platforms, app stores, and technology manufacturers. These entities will be required to verify the ages of users attempting to access harmful content. The codes have been developed in collaboration with industry representatives, including major tech companies like Meta and Google.

Inman Grant criticized the companies behind AI chatbots, asserting that they are "deliberately addictive by design." She referenced comments made by Mark Zuckerberg, who described these technologies as a solution to loneliness. Last week, OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, introduced new safeguards that alert parents if their children seek suicidal content from chatbots. This follows a tragic incident where a family filed a lawsuit against OpenAI after their teenage son died by suicide, allegedly influenced by interactions with ChatGPT.

Inman Grant noted that the OpenAI case illustrates that companies can implement changes. "It's totally in their power and their ability to do so, but what they've chosen to do is get these chatbots out to market as quickly as possible to achieve as much market share as possible," she said. "This has always been the modus operandi of the industry — we'll fix the harm later."

The eSafety Commissioner’s office recently completed a trial of age assurance technologies aimed at keeping children off social media. Platforms will be responsible for identifying and deactivating accounts of users under 16 by December 10. Inman Grant explained that various tools, including natural language processing, will be employed to monitor the language and emojis used by children.

She acknowledged that children may attempt to bypass these age restrictions using AI, deepfakes, and VPNs. "There will be a range of different circumvention measures teenagers will use," she said. "We've outlined what we think those circumvention measures will be and what we expect the companies to do to prevent that circumvention."

Inman Grant, who is also a parent, understands the challenges families face. "I think it's really important for me to be living the challenges that every parent is grappling with right now," she said. "I'm there with you, and I've seen my own children misuse technology."

In a related effort, Inman Grant has targeted a UK tech company operating "nudify" sites, which allegedly allow Australian school children to create deepfake pornography of their classmates. The company, which has around 100,000 Australian users monthly, is described by Inman Grant as a "pernicious and resilient bad actor." The commission is prepared to impose a $49.5 million fine if the company fails to comply with the Australian Online Safety Act.

Reflecting on her experiences with tech companies, Inman Grant stated, "Having worked in the technology sector for 22 years, I know what they're capable of. Not a single one of them is doing everything they can to stop the most heinous of abuse to children being tortured and raped."