Elizabeth Englander, PhD (Director, Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center; Professor of Psychology, Bridgewater State University) explains how AI chatbots work behind-the-scenes and what risks teens should be aware of, at the #AskTheExperts webinar “The New Sex Educator? Online Sexual Content and Today’s Youth” on May 22, 2024.
Read the Video Transcript
[Dr. Elizabeth Englander] What are some of the impacts on kids of all this? These AI chatbots and relationships can offer nudity. They can offer sexuality. And they use humans to train these chatbots so that they’re very realistic. I think kids really need to be aware of how AI boyfriends and girlfriends work. I think this is a way we can really help prepare our kids for living with AI, is understanding that there’s a model that they’re trying to do. They’re trying to get people to download their app. They’re trying to gather personal information, of course, and use trackers and, in order to engage their users, they’re going to push you towards sexuality, towards sharing photos, towards revealing private information.
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The New Sex Educator? Online Sexual Content and Today’s Youth
How much and how easily are youth accessing sexual content online? How does what they view shape their perception of “normal” in romantic and sexual relationships? Is the increasing prevalence of AI playing a role?
Carolyn West, PhD
Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Washington
Elizabeth Englander, PhD
Director, Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center; Professor of Psychology, Bridgewater State University
Debra Herbenick, PhD, MPH
Provost Professor, Director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Indiana University School of Public Health
Amy Lang, MA
Sexual Health Educator, Birds & Bees & Kids
Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, PhD
Professor of Communication, University of Arizona