Think Out Loud

Oregon lawmakers among the first to pass protections for kids using chatbots

By Allison Frost (OPB)
March 25, 2026 7:05 p.m.

Broadcast: Wednesday, March 25

File - The OpenAI logo appears on a mobile phone in front of a screen showing part of the company website in this photo taken on Nov. 21, 2023 in New York. Negotiators will meet this week to hammer out details of European Union artificial intelligence rules but the process has been bogged down by a simmering last-minute battle over how to govern systems that underpin general purpose AI services like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard chatbot.

File - The OpenAI logo appears on a mobile phone in front of a screen showing part of the company website in this photo taken on Nov. 21, 2023 in New York. Negotiators will meet this week to hammer out details of European Union artificial intelligence rules but the process has been bogged down by a simmering last-minute battle over how to govern systems that underpin general purpose AI services like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard chatbot.

Peter Morgan / AP

Artificial Intelligence is impacting business, government, social media and countless aspects of modern life. Child health and safety advocates say the effects of social media and the rise of chatbots and other AI on children can be devastating and lead to depression, and in the worst cases, suicide. Oregon lawmakers passed a bill in the short session to protect children and youth from these emerging technologies, which will provide guardrails for adults using chatbots as well.

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We talk with one of the bill’s sponsors, Oregon Sen. Lisa Reynolds (D - Portland). And we hear from Kristin Bride, the executive director of the Carson J. Bride Effect, which she founded to protect kids from predatory tech practices, after the death of her son by suicide in 2020.

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