Anthropomorphic AI and emergent vulnerabilities: An empirically informed legal evaluation of the protection of users of AI chatbots

Mia Liinason, Karen Louise Grova Søilen and Sue Anne Teo present their RJ-funded research project.

About the project

This interdisciplinary research collaboration explores the risks of manipulation and exploitation of human vulnerabilities by anthropomorphic AI chatbots. Based on a longitudinal empirical study, the project will explore how these risks emerge in human-chatbot interaction and how legal frameworks can protect users against these risks. The project will also examine the business model oriented around the intimacy economy, its impact upon individuals and the lack of legal vocabularies to address the effects of this new phenomena and develop a novel conceptual framework of intimacy capitalism. 

In this presentation, the three researchers will describe the legal and ethical challenges of regulating companion AI, highlight methodological approaches to exploring emergent vulnerabilities in human-companion chatbot interaction over time, and provide some theoretical starting points for critically examining companion AI business models