Dr. Susan Leavy:

The Deputy raised a really important point and I believe the next frontier of that is AI companions. These things tend to pop up. It is a different generation. How AI is framing people's relationships with each other is having a huge effect very fast. That ability to create text or images means people do not know what is real or not real. It breaks our ability to communicate with each other. We have to think through that and that requires research. You do not know how to regulate or what to do with it unless you have the evidence. Unfortunately, that often is after the negative effects are seen and maybe kids end up in accident and emergency when the damage has been done. Research is needed earlier. We need engagement with young people who are feeling the effects already, before it is large enough to comprehend. That idea of social companions is increasingly being focused on. Again, the AI Act will be good on this. There is a great deal of regulation around subliminal manipulation and circumventing people's autonomy. I would not like to be one of those companies within Europe that has those character AI-type personas.