Technologies

Psychologists Are Calling for Guardrails Around AI Use for Young People. Here’s What to Watch Out For

The American Psychological Association suggests parents help teens understand how AI works and how to use it wisely.

Generative AI developers should take steps to ensure the use of their tools doesn’t harm young people who use them, the American Psychological Association warned in a health advisory Tuesday.

The report, compiled by an advisory panel of psychology experts, called for tech companies to ensure there are boundaries with simulated relationships, to create age-appropriate privacy settings and to encourage healthy uses of AI, among other recommendations.

The APA has issued similar advisories about technology in the past. Last year, the group recommended that parents limit teens’ exposure to videos produced by social media influencers and gen AI. In 2023, it warned of the harms that could come from social media use among young people.

«Like social media, AI is neither inherently good nor bad,» APA Chief of Psychology Mitch Prinstein said in a statement. «But we have already seen instances where adolescents developed unhealthy and even dangerous ‘relationships’ with chatbots, for example. Some adolescents may not even know they are interacting with AI, which is why it is crucial that developers put guardrails in place now.»

The meteoric surge of artificial intelligence tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini the last few years has presented new and serious challenges for mental health, especially among younger users. People increasingly talk to chatbots like they would talk to a friend, sharing secrets and relying on them for companionship. While that use can have some positive effects on mental health, it can also be detrimental, experts say, reinforcing harmful behaviors or offering the wrong advice. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

What the APA recommended about AI use

The group called for several different ways to ensure adolescents can use AI safely, including limiting access to harmful and false content and protecting data privacy and the likenesses of young users.

One key difference between adult users and younger people is that adults are more likely to question the accuracy and intent of an AI output. A younger person (the report defined adolescents as between age 10 and 25) might not be able to approach the interaction with the appropriate level of skepticism.

Relationships with AI entities like chatbots or the role-playing tool Character.ai might also displace the important real-world, human social relationships people learn to have as they develop. «Early research indicates that strong attachments to AI-generated characters may contribute to struggles with learning social skills and developing emotional connections,» the report said.

People in their teens and early 20s are developing habits and social skills that will carry into adulthood, and changes to how they socialize can have lifelong effects, said Nick Jacobson, an associate professor of biomedical data science and psychiatry at Dartmouth who was not on the panel that produced the report. «Those stages of development can be a template for what happens later,» he said.

The APA report called for developers to create systems that prevent the erosion of human relationships, like reminders that the bot is not a human, alongside regulatory changes to protect the interests of youths.

Other recommendations included that there should be differences between tools intended for use by adults and those used by children, such as age-appropriate settings being made default and designs made to be less persuasive. Systems should have human oversight and intensive testing to ensure they are safe.

Schools and policymakers should prioritize education around AI literacy and how to use the tools responsibly, the APA said. That should include discussions of how to evaluate AI outputs for bias and inaccurate information. «This education must equip young people with the knowledge and skills to understand what AI is, how it works, its potential benefits and limitations, privacy concerns around personal data, and the risks of overreliance,» the report said.

Identifying safe and unsafe AI use

The report shows psychologists grappling with the uncertainties of how a new and fast-growing technology will affect the mental health of those most vulnerable to potential developmental harms, Jacobson said.

«The nuances of how [AI] affects social development are really broad,» he told me. «This is a new technology that is probably potentially as big in terms of its impact on human development as the internet.»

AI tools can be helpful for mental health and they can be harmful, Jacobson said. He and other researchers at Dartmouth recently released a study of an AI chatbot that showed promise in providing therapy, but it was specifically designed to follow therapeutic practices and was closely monitored. More general AI tools, he said, can provide incorrect information or encourage harmful behaviors. He pointed to recent issues with sycophancy in a ChatGPT model, which OpenAI eventually rolled back.

«Sometimes these tools connect in ways that can feel very validating, but sometimes they can act in ways that can be very harmful,» he said.

Jacobson said it’s important for scientists to continue to research the psychological impacts of AI use and to educate the public on what they learn.

«The pace of the field is moving so fast, and we need some room for science to catch up,» he said.

The APA offered suggestions for what parents can do to ensure teens are using AI safely, including explaining how AI works, encouraging human-to-human interactions, stressing the potential inaccuracy of health information and reviewing privacy settings.

Technologies

Act Fast to Save 15% on This Powerful CarbonMag Portable Charger

This Sharge charger can keep you powered on the go, and right now you don’t have to pay full price.

There’s nothing worse than your phone dying in the middle of the day, especially when finding an outlet means being stuck in an uncomfortable situation. MagSafe portable wireless chargers are a great fix for that, as they snap onto the back of your phone and charge it while you go about your day. One solid pick that won’t weigh your phone down like a brick is the CarbonMag MagSafe portable charger by Sharge. And right now it can be yours for less with this Prime Day deal.

Thanks to Prime Day, you can currently snag it for 15% off with the code QHUAPIWG at checkout — bringing the price down from $70 to just $59. That’s the same cost as the smaller 5,000mAh model, but this one gives you double the battery capacity for the same price.

This device is made out of carbon fiber, which makes it 40% lighter than your usual power banks and 80% more durable than chargers made with the materials normally used. It gets you a 10,000mAh battery capacity, enough to charge your devices multiple times throughout the day. You’ll enjoy up to 15W wireless charging, which can power an iPhone 15 from 0% to 55% in just 44 minutes.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

The charger also features ultrastrong (but safe) magnets that maintain a stable hold on your smartphone. You can use the built-in USB-C port for pass-through charging or to power another device at the same time. The only catch? We don’t know when the discount code expires, so you might want to hurry.

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Why this deal matters

MagSafe wireless chargers can be a game-changer for anyone tired of juggling wires throughout the day. This deal gets you a slim, lightweight, yet powerful option at a $11 discount for a limited time. We recommend acting while you can.

Technologies

Save Up to $35 Off a Baseus Charging Station This July 4th and Stay Powered Up All Weekend

When USB ports aren’t enough, a Baseus charging station is what you need. Power all your gadgets with multiple well-spaced AC outlets and no clutter.

Keeping all your gear charged can be a job unto itself, and it gets more complicated when you have visitors. Whether you’re having guests this Fourth of July weekend or you just need a better charging solution for your family, a charging station could be the answer. But even the best charging stations can only share so many watts between devices, which is why the best charging stations from brands like Anker and Baseus not only feature multiple USB ports but also multiple AC outlets. AC outlets accommodate those few devices that still use proprietary chargers, and it lets you expand beyond the included 2-4 USB ports without sacrificing wattage when you need to top off everyone quickly before heading out.

The Fourth of July deals are bouncing into next week’s Amazon Prime Day to give us some of the best savings of the year a week early. Among the dozens of mobile accessories Baseus has on sale this holiday weekend is a trio of towers that can declutter your desk and keep everything you need ready and recharged. Available in 6-in-1, 7-in-1 for $65, and 10-in-1 varieties, these charging stations all offer two USB-C ports, at least one USB-A port and multiple AC outlets. Just note: You’ll need to clip the on-page coupon to get the lowest possible price.

For the best blend of power and ports, Baseus’ 100W 7-in-1 USB-C charging station can fast charge a laptop at 65W — full speed for all Chromebooks and many Windows laptops — while a phone and tablet each standard charge at 15W and still leave 5W for your smartwatch while your non-USB tech or your desk’s smart speaker can use the AC ports on both sides and the back of the tower. These towers are part power delivery chargers and part surge protectors with surge and lightning protection to keep your digital lifelines from frying should calamity strike.

The Baseus $35 10-in-1 desktop charging station model may sound like it’s the most powerful, but it only offers 35 watts to share between the two USB-C and USB-A ports, leaving the lion’s share of the station’s potential power to the six AC ports. This isn’t to say 35W between four ports is useless, but you’ll want to use those ports for lower-powered devices like recharging your smartwatch or wireless earbuds.

If you’re looking to charge multiple phones and tablets with those ports, you’re probably better off going with the 6-in-1 USB-C Charging Station at $50, which may only have three AC ports but features a retractable USB-C cable in addition to one standard USB-A and one USB-C port. Those three ports share 65W, meaning that you can charge both a phone and tablet at full speed rather than both getting middling speeds.

Why this deal matters

I use a 100W charging station like this at my desk and have another next to my couch for both me and my guests to keep our phones powered and ready. Being able to stick my 65W travel charger into one of the AC ports and fast charge four phones instead of two — well, one phone and my Chromebook — when I have people over and then swap it back to powering my oil diffuser or smart speaker once they’re gone is a godsend, and since the wall outlets are spread out across multiple sides of the tower instead of sandwiched next to each other in a line, I never have to worry about bulky plugs blocking out half my ports.

Because these charging stations double as surge protectors, you can also click their switch to power off and disconnect everything when severe weather comes, unlike standard charging stations you would have to unplug. Living in lightning capital of the U.S. makes this feature more important to me than most, but it can also be handy for parents wanting a one-click shut-off for all the kids’ consoles and computers.

We’re still days away from Prime Day, and deals like these will continue to drop through the next week, but these chargers are all within a few dollars of their lowest prices ever. We’ll watch for further price drops and competing deals throughout the holiday week, including Anker’s plethora of deals on chargers, speakers and smart home appliances.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 4, #284

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 4, No. 284.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has kind of a July 4 flavor. But come on, New York Times puzzle makers, is the blue category really a sport? Read on for hints and the answers. And pass the mustard.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: What you won.

Green group hint: Lone Star State sports.

Blue group hint: Chow down.

Purple group hint: Not cold.