The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that the author of a university audit testing if artificial intelligence chatbots provide self-harm and cyberbullying advice urges Ottawa to implement "mystery shopping" to ensure AI tools meet safety standards after the Safe Social Media bill is enacted.
The Globe's Marie Woolf writes that Ottawa's Bill C-34, introduced in June, would establish a Digital Safety Commission that would enforce new safety rules for major social-media platforms and AI chatbots.
Audit co-author Aengus Bridgman said Thursday that actively testing if chatbots are providing advice on harmful behaviour should be "a key part of the regulatory framework" under the federal bill.
"Essentially you send a mystery shopper in to investigate how robust the safeguards are," he said, adding that this practice would test the claims companies are making about the safety features built into their chatbots.
Canada Research Chair Emily Laidlaw said mystery shopping audits would "help achieve safety by design, which is a goal of the bill, essentially lifting the lid" on how the AI chatbots operate.
Meta and OpenAI announced measures Thursday to protect teens on-line, including safety tools in their chatbots.
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