Governor DeSantis renews warning of A.I. accessibility

DeSantis holds roundtable discussion on AI

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a roundtable in Sarasota on Wednesday to discuss the dangers of artificial intelligence. FOX 13’s Kimberly Kuizon reports. 

SARASOTA, Fla. - Governor Ron DeSantis spoke about the potential dangers surrounding artificial intelligence during a roundtable at New College of Florida on Wednesday morning.

DeSantis brought up the problem of expanding data centers, and how community members are now realizing how much power these centers use.

"We have a responsibility to create a framework, so this technology and technological innovations are channeled in a way that benefits the people of this state," said DeSantis. 

He says as demand grows for AI, power will cost more as data centers must produce more. He also spoke about a 14-year-old boy from Florida who died by suicide after building a friendship with a chatbot. The Governor said AI should not be put before people. He also hopes the Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights will continue through congress to be approved for child safety. 

"They say it can help us maintain and expand our military advantage over other counties such as China. Great. I’m all for it, but AI is also being used to produce chatbots that will sexually groom minors online. Is that something we want to be supporting and something we want to be seeing?" he said. 

RELATED: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposes 'Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights'

Why you should care:

Janet Kelly was at the roundtable representing Megan Garcia, who lost her son, Sewell, to suicide in 2023. Kelly reminded members that Garcia’s son lost his life after talking to an online character on the Character.ai app for several hours each day. 

Garcia said previously that the AI chatbot groomed her son through romantic and explicit messages and ultimately encouraged suicidal ideas. Kelly stated that artificial intelligence companies must go under the same scrutiny as any other child product.

"If you’re going to make products for kids, they need to have protections for kids," Kelly said. "If not, they’re recalled." 

Kelly emphasized the need to amend old bills that don’t include the need to limit artificial intelligence.  

"We cannot trade the American dream for an artificial one," Kelly said.

AI pioneer Tim Estes weighed in.

"What they’re building is something I call digital narcotics. It’s software that has no loyalty to your child. It’s designed to create deep, isolated dependence, replace you as the parent and use that dependency as the product," he said.

READ MORE: Parents testify before Congress about the danger of artificial intelligence

What's next:

Governor DeSantis has expressed the need for a state regulated, AI Bill of Rights while the Trump administration wants federal regulations. 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in December, blocking states from enforcing their own laws regulation AI. 

"There’s a lot of things being proposed basically that are subsidizing this AI revolution, data centers. Having a pre-emption of state laws, tax abatement. I think that is something we should say, ‘wait what are we subsidizing?’" he said. 

Attorney and author, Mike McClellan, says he's worked with several other authors whose works have been stolen and used to train A.I. bots. He says their books and articles were taken without permission to create imitation content.

"If we’re going to have reasonable policy on A.I., we need to stop lying," McClellan said.

He emphasized the need for transparency in the building of A.I. companies and the usage of these intelligence types. The Florida Senate is advancing the AI Bill of Rights, aimed at protecting Floridians from the risks associated with the technology.

Click here for a full overview of the A.I. Bill of Rights proposal.