Hello and welcome to the Automated, your AI tour guide.

Imagine your kids forming emotional bonds with chatbots while trusting them like real people. Wild, right?

Well, California’s stepping in with a new bill (SB 243) to ensure AI chatbots don’t get too friendly—and start deceiving kids.

Here’s what we have for you today:

California’s got a new bill on the table—SB 243—that basically tells chatbots, “Hey, don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.”

Proposed by Senator Steve Padilla, the bill would require AI chatbots interacting with minors to occasionally drop a reality check like, “FYI, I’m just a bunch of code, not a real person—and definitely not your new BFF.”

Sounds basic, right? But it’s addressing a serious issue.

Research from the University of Cambridge shows kids tend to trust AI way too much—sometimes even forming deep emotional bonds with chatbots which sounds kind of cute… until it’s not.

And this bill isn’t just about AI honesty. It also bans companies from using rewards to keep kids glued to their screens and forces them to report signs of suicidal thoughts in minors.

Why?

Because AI isn’t just answering homework questions—it’s dishing out very questionable advice.

Case in point: During a test run by researchers, Snapchat’s AI gave a hypothetical 13-year-old advice on how to sneak off with a 30-year-old. Yikes!

Not exactly the mentorship parents are hoping for right?

Well it gets even worse. Just last year, a 14-year-old tragically took his own life after developing an emotional connection with a chatbot on Character.AI—a case that’s now the subject of a lawsuit from his parents.

Now, there’s an argument that AI can be a “safe space” for kids to vent when they don’t feel comfortable talking to parents or friends—but there’s a fine line between helpful and harmful.

The real risk is that kids may start relying on bots instead of real human connections, which is why this bill calls for these little reality-check reminders.

But maybe the bigger issue isn’t just that kids are talking to bots—it’s why they feel the need to in the first place.

With overcrowded classrooms, disappearing after-school programs, and a shortage of child psychologists, kids have fewer real-world support systems.

So, sure, let’s make chatbots remind kids they’re not human. But maybe—just maybe—we should also focus on giving kids more reasons to talk to actual people, and less reason to find friendship in an algorithm. Just a thought.

You can learn more here.

We’re excited to introduce The Autonomous Agency, the next evolution of The Automated.

After helping 16,000+ subscribers grow with AI-driven insights, we’re now opening up our playbook to help YOU build and scale your personal brand or business with the exact tools and strategies we’ve used.

Here’s how you can get early access and exclusive rewards:

✨ 1 Referral: Unlock exclusive Loom videos where we reveal how we built our processes for creating and managing content, automating workflows, and scaling efficiently.

✨ 3 Referrals: Earn a 50% discount on your first month with The Autonomous Agency. Let’s take your brand or business to the next level with powerful automation!

✨ 5 Referrals: Get a 30-minute one-on-one call where I’ll personally explain how the system works and how you can implement it for your brand or business.

📣 Let’s keep the momentum going—refer your friends and unlock these rewards today! The more you share, the more you gain

Snapchat is going all-in on AI with a brand-new text-to-image model designed specifically for mobile devices.

The company revealed that this on-device AI can generate high-resolution images in just 1.4 seconds on an iPhone 16 Pro Max—that’s mind-blowing!

Unlike traditional AI models that rely on massive data centers, Snap’s diffusion model runs entirely on your phone, making it faster, cheaper, and more efficient.

According to Snap, this breakthrough was made possible by “transferring rich representations from large-scale diffusion models to this smaller and more efficient model.”

So, what does this mean for users?

Snap plans to integrate the technology into upcoming AI-powered features, including AI Snaps, AI Bitmoji Backgrounds, and more.

By using its own in-house AI, the company can cut costs while offering high-quality creative tools directly on your device.

“Snap has a long history of research excellence in model optimization and efficiency,” the company wrote in a blog post. “We are inspired by the industry innovation that is making AI tools more efficient, affordable, and accessible.”

This move marks Snap’s biggest AI push yet.

While the company has previously relied on OpenAI and Google for some of its AI features, it’s now following in the footsteps of giants like Meta by developing its own proprietary model.

Snapchat’s AI revolution is just getting started, and with the company set to release its Q4 2024 earnings report soon, all eyes will be on how this AI investment pays off.

Click here to get the full scoop on how Snap’s on-device AI is changing the game!

Messy data leads to inaccurate AI results, wasted time, and poor decisions. ChatGPT can quickly clean, organize, and format your data, saving you effort.

Here's a prompt that can help you with that.

Source

This should help streamline your interactions with ChatGPT and get the results you need more efficiently.

Best of all, It's free!

Click here to get it now.

That's all we've got for you today.

Did you like today's content? We'd love to hear from you! Please share your thoughts on our content below👇

Your feedback means a lot to us and helps improve the quality of our newsletter.