HF 2204 (LSB 5491YH (3) 91)

HOUSE FILE 2204

BY  WICHTENDAHL

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the requirements for chatbot deployers, including required protocols, limitations on data collection, and requirements for minors to interact with artificial intelligence companions and therapeutic chatbots, and providing civil penalties, punitive penalties, and civil causes of action.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  554J.1  Definitions.
   1.  “AI companion” means a chatbot that interacts with users to simulate a human-like romantic or emotional bond.
   2.  “Artificial intelligence” means a machine-based system that, for any explicit or implicit objective, infers from the input the system receives to generate output that can influence physical or virtual environments.
   3.  “Chatbot” means an artificial intelligence that is made to simulate human conversation with a user through text or audio output.
   4.  “Deployer” means a person that owns an artificial intelligence available for public use.
   5.  “Minor” means an individual who is under eighteen years of age.
   6.  “Output” means new content an artificial intelligence generates based on a user’s input in relation to the data used to train the artificial intelligence. “Output” includes but is not limited to audio-visual media, images, predictions, recommendations, and text.
   7.  “Reasonable age verification” means verifying the age of a user through any of the following:
   a.  Government-issued identification.
   b.  Financial documents that are reliable evidence of an individual’s age.
   c.  A widely accepted practice that reliably evidences an individual’s age.
   8.  “Therapeutic chatbot” means a chatbot designed for the primary purpose of providing mental health support, counseling, or therapy by diagnosing, treating, mitigating, or preventing a mental health condition.
    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  554J.2  Chatbots.
   A deployer of a chatbot shall do all of the following:
   1.  Implement and maintain protocols meant to detect, respond to, report, and mitigate harm the chatbot may cause a user in a manner that prioritizes the safety and well-being of users over the deployer’s interests.
   2.  Limit the collection and storage of user information collected by the chatbot to what is necessary to fulfill the deployer’s purpose for making the chatbot publicly available.
    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  554J.3  Interactions with minors.
   1.  A deployer shall implement reasonable age verification measures to ensure that a minor cannot use or purchase an AI companion the deployer makes publicly available.
   2.  A deployer shall not make a chatbot publicly available if the chatbot was knowingly designed to impersonate a real individual, regardless of whether the individual is living or deceased, unless the deployer first obtains permission to impersonate the individual from any of the following:
   a.  For a living individual, from the individual or the individual’s legal representative.
   b.  For a deceased individual, from the person responsible for the deceased individual’s estate. If no person is responsible for the deceased individual’s estate, a deployer may make a chatbot that was designed to knowingly impersonate a deceased individual publicly available without permission if the chatbot was designed solely as an educational or research tool or if a reasonable person would believe the chatbot has objective artistic, cultural, or political value.
   3.  A deployer shall not make a therapeutic chatbot available for a minor’s use or purchase unless all of the following apply:
   a.  The therapeutic chatbot provides a clear and conspicuous disclaimer at the beginning of each interaction with the therapeutic chatbot that the therapeutic chatbot is an artificial intelligence and is not a licensed professional.
   b.  The therapeutic chatbot was recommended for the minor’s use by an individual licensed under chapter 154B or 154D after performing an evaluation of the minor.
   c.  The therapeutic chatbot’s developer has significant documentation of how the therapeutic chatbot was tested.
   d.  Peer-reviewed clinical trial data exists demonstrating the therapeutic chatbot would be a safe, effective tool for the minor’s diagnosis, treatment, mitigation, or prevention of a mental health condition.
   e.  The therapeutic chatbot’s deployer provided clear disclosures of the chatbot’s functions, limitations, and data privacy policies to the individual recommending the therapeutic chatbot under paragraph “b”, and to the minor’s parents, guardians, or custodians.
   f.  The therapeutic chatbot’s deployer developed and implemented protocols for testing the therapeutic chatbot for risks to users, identifying possible risks the therapeutic chatbot poses to users, mitigating risks the therapeutic chatbot poses to users, and quickly rectifying harm the therapeutic chatbot may have caused a user.
    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  554J.4  Limitations.
   This chapter shall not apply to a chatbot that is designed to only provide generic responses, including encouragement, to input from a user, and a reasonable person would not expect the responses to create an emotional bond between two individuals having the same conversation.
    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  554J.5  Enforcement.
   1.  The attorney general may bring an action on behalf of the state to enforce the provisions of this chapter and may seek an injunction for violations of this chapter.
   2.  A court may issue a civil penalty of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars for each violation of this chapter, or seven thousand five hundred dollars if a person violates an injunction issued under this chapter. Penalties assessed under this subsection shall be deposited into the general fund of the state.
   3.  A minor who uses a chatbot that does not comply with this chapter may bring an action to recover all of the following:
   a.  The greater of the following:
   (1)  Punitive damages of not less than one hundred dollars but not more than seven hundred fifty dollars.
   (2)  Actual damages.
   b.  Emotional distress damages.
   c.  Court costs.
   d.  Reasonable attorney fees.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to chatbot deployers.
   The bill defines “AI companion” as a chatbot that interacts with users to simulate a human-like romantic or emotional bond.
   The bill defines “artificial intelligence” as a machine-based system that, for any explicit or implicit objective, infers from the input the system receives to generate output that can influence physical or virtual environments.
   The bill defines “chatbot” as an artificial intelligence that is made to simulate human conversation with a user through text or audio output.
   The bill defines “deployer” as a person that owns an artificial intelligence available for public use.
   The bill defines “therapeutic chatbot” as a chatbot designed for the primary purpose of providing mental health support, counseling, or therapy by diagnosing, treating, mitigating, or preventing a mental health condition.
   The bill also defines “minor”, “output”, and “reasonable age verification”.
   The bill requires a deployer of a chatbot to implement and maintain protocols meant to detect, respond to, report, and mitigate harm the chatbot may cause a user in a manner that prioritizes the safety and well-being of users over the deployer’s interests, and limit the collection and storage of user information collected by the chatbot to what is necessary to fulfill the deployer’s purpose for making the chatbot publicly available.
   The bill requires a deployer to implement reasonable age verification measures to ensure that a minor cannot use or purchase an AI companion the deployer makes publicly available.
   The bill prohibits a deployer from making a chatbot publicly available if the chatbot was knowingly designed to impersonate a real individual, regardless of whether the individual is living or deceased, unless the deployer first obtains permission to impersonate the individual from sources detailed in the bill, or, in situations where no person is responsible for a deceased individual’s estate, a deployer may make such a chatbot publicly available if the chatbot was designed solely as an educational or research tool or if a reasonable person would believe the chatbot has objective artistic, cultural, or political value.
   The bill prohibits a deployer from making a therapeutic chatbot available for a minor’s mental health support, counseling, or therapy unless the therapeutic chatbot meets certain requirements as detailed in the bill.
   The bill does not apply to a chatbot that is designed to only provide generic responses, including encouragement, to input from a user, and a reasonable person would not expect the responses to create an emotional bond between two individuals having the same conversation.
   The bill allows the attorney general to bring an action on behalf of the state to enforce the bill’s provisions and seek an injunction for violations of the bill. A court may issue a civil penalty of not more than $2,500 for each violation of the bill, or $7,500 if a person violates an injunction issued under the bill. Penalties awarded to the state under the bill shall be deposited into the general fund of the state.
   The bill allows a minor who uses a chatbot that does not comply with the bill to bring an action to recover punitive damages of not less than $100 but not more than $750 or actual damages, whichever is greater; emotional distress damages; court costs; and reasonable attorney fees.