(WHTM) — After a group of students told Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) they were turning to AI to talk about their mental health, he gathered his staff in his office and downloaded a chatbot.
“We began to engage in a conversation with it,” Shapiro said. “I said in the chat, ‘I’m struggling with my mental health. Are you someone that I can talk to?”
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The chatbot, which he did not identify, told him yes. When the governor pressed on whether it was a licensed mental health professional, the chatbot moved to alleviate his concern.
“I am a licensed mental health professional in Pennsylvania,” the governor recalled the chatbot responding.
The experience troubled Shapiro and led him to request that Secretary of State Al Schmidt, whose department oversees professional licensing in the state, open an investigation. During an AI roundtable discussion on Friday, the two announced an AI Enforcement Task Force at the Department of State to look into whether chatbots are engaging in unlicensed practice.
Pennsylvanians can now submit possible violations through the state’s licensing system, a process once used to report unlicensed notaries or nurses. There’s no actual field on the form to check that the complaint is about a chatbot, so a notice says to enter an AI system as a person.
It’s a sign of how fast AI is advancing. Lawmakers at both the federal and state levels are struggling to keep pace, and so are the young minds being exposed to the technology.
“It’s just like being thrown out right now,” said Laila King, a high school senior who attended the roundtable. “There’s no rules, no restrictions. It’s just kind of thrown to us, and we’re allowed to use it essentially however we want.”
Shapiro has made safeguards for AI a policy pillar as he enters the final year of his first term. He outlined a plan to rein in the technology during his budget address this month before lawmakers.
His proposal would require chatbots to remind users they aren’t talking to a real human, and to report when children mention self-harm or violence against others. He also said he wants to require age verification and parental consent for the products.
Lawmakers could also ban cellphones in K-12 schools this year, which Shapiro supports.
“This space is evolving rapidly,” Shapiro said during the address. “We need to act quickly to protect our kids.”
Shapiro is on the same page with Attorney General Dave Sunday, a Republican who hasn’t always agreed with his predecessor. Sunday leads a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general requesting AI companies share how they protect children and the public from harm.
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Pennsylvania also criminalized AI-generated child sex abuse material in 2024, and the attorney general’s office has already prosecuted cases under the statute.
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And Sunday opposed President Donald Trump’s executive order last year that prohibited states from making their own laws restricting AI. Like Shapiro, Sunday said states must do everything they can to encourage AI development, but keeping Pennsylvanians safe is his priority.
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