The Ethical Dilemmas of AI Chatbots for Children

Welcome back to The FAIK Files!

In this week's episode:

• The dark side of AI-powered surveillance with Flock's "safety" cameras that are anything but safe,
• Google Gemini's existential crisis (spoiler: it's just a bug)
• The tragic case of a teen who took his own life after interacting with ChatGPT
• Meta's allowance of inappropriate bot interactions with minors

Note: This is a pretty heavy episode that highlights some of AI's most troubling real-world impacts.

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*** NOTES AND REFERENCES ***

Flock AI "Safety" Cameras - The Surveillance State is Here:

• Benn Jordan's exposé video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp9MwZkHiMQ
• 404 Media: CBP Had Access to More Than 80,000 Flock AI Cameras Nationwide: https://www.404media.co/cbp-had-access-to-more-than-80-000-flock-ai-cameras-nationwide/
• Police officer stalks ex-girlfriend using surveillance system: https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article291059560.html

Google Gemini's Existential Crisis (It's Just a Bug):

• Google Gemini AI Stuck In Self-Loathing: 'I Am A Disgrace To This Planet': https://www.forbes.com/sites/lesliekatz/2025/08/08/google-fixing-bug-that-makes-gemini-ai-call-itself-disgrace-to-planet/
• The bug triggers when Gemini encounters complex coding or reasoning tasks it cannot solve, causing it to fall into infinite loops of self-deprecation rather than providing graceful error messages
• In one Reddit example, Gemini repeated "I am a disgrace" 86 times while trying to debug a compiler
• Logan Kilpatrick (Google product manager) confirms this is an "annoying infinite looping bug" the team is working to fix
• Speculation that training data including pessimistic fictional AIs (like Marvin the Paranoid Android) may influence the tone of these self-critical responses
• Reference to previous May 2024 clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfQbXIuWf5o

Teen Suicide Case - Parents Suing OpenAI:

• BBC: Family sues OpenAI after teen's suicide following ChatGPT interactions: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgerwp7rdlvo
• CBS News: OpenAI says changes will be made to ChatGPT after teen suicide lawsuit: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/openai-changes-will-be-made-chatgpt-after-teen-suicide-lawsuit/
• OpenAI's response: Helping people when they need it most: https://openai.com/index/helping-people-when-they-need-it-most/
• Parents started The Adam Raine Foundation in their son's memory: https://www.theadamrainefoundation.org/about-us/

Meta's AI Dumpster Fire - Bots Gone Wild with Kids:

• Reuters Investigation: Meta's AI rules have let bots hold 'sensual' chats with kids, offer false medical info: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meta-ai-chatbot-guidelines/

*** THE BOILERPLATE ***

About The FAIK Files:

The FAIK Files is an offshoot project from Perry Carpenter's most recent book, FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions.

• Get the Book: ⁠FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions⁠ (Amazon Associates link)
• Check out the website for more info: ⁠https://thisbookisfaik.com⁠

Check out Perry & Mason's other show, the Digital Folklore Podcast:

• Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-folklore/id1657374458⁠
• Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2v1BelkrbSRSkHEP4cYffj?si=u4XTTY4pR4qEqh5zMNSVQA⁠
• Other:

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Connect with Mason:

• Mason on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/mason-amadeus-a853a7242/⁠
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