Experts tell Alabama lawmakers to clearly define ages, artificial intelligence in future legislation

This story was originally published by Alabama Reflector.

Experts told Alabama lawmakers Wednesday that regulating artificial intelligence for children should start with clear definitions. 

Speaking before the Study Commission on Artificial Intelligence and Children’s Safety – a group of lawmakers, child advocates, a representative from the Attorney General’s office and the Department of Mental Health – Kevin Frazier, AI innovation and law fellow at the University of Texas, told lawmakers that an outright ban on AI is not the answer.

“Blanket bans just ignore the fact that there’s so many contextual factors that for one family versus another, AI use may make sense,” Frazier said.

The commission is tasked with studying the effects of AI, social media, and Internet access and usage on children, and to recommend legislation to address issues related to such technologies, according to the resolution creating the commission.

A 2025 study from the National Institutes of Health found potential benefits and risks when children and teens use AI. The study found that using AI for homework or the classroom could free up time to focus on other topics, but can also cause cognitive biases or lead students to offload tasks to AI that they would otherwise learn on their own. 

A February study from the Pew Research Center found that 54% of teens have used an AI chatbot to help with homework, but few use it regularly. 

“For a minority of teens, chatbots have become a go-to tool for much of their schoolwork. One-in-ten teens say they do all or most of their schoolwork with chatbots’ help,” the study states. “Larger shares say they do some (21%) or a little (23%) of their schoolwork with the help of a chatbot. Another 45% haven’t used them in this way.”

The NIH study also found potential benefits and risks when adolescents use AI for mental health reasons. Frazier, who leads the University of Texas’ AI Innovation and Law Program, said that AI should not be made the enemy, but be used to streamline processes in the classroom and in mental health facilities.

“We see also that there is a significant shortage of mental health support, so when it comes to accessing the requisite degree of expertise in mental health care and the number of mental health workforce practitioners generally, Alabama tends to be on the lower end of the spectrum across the United States, also known as the bottom,” Frazier said.

Rep. Ben Robbins, R-Sylacauga, who co-chairs the commission, said in an interview after the meeting that he hopes the commission can build a foundation for AI legislation.

“Artificial intelligence is evolving and growing so rapidly and fast that we don’t even have the framework or the foundation to legislate,” he said. “We have to define it as it’s used in the industry and where it might be going in a few years.”

When drafting legislation, Rob Eleveld, CEO of the Transparency Coalition – a nonprofit that researches policies related to AI – said that specific definitions are important.

“Any bill you create to protect kids is going to have some definition of a minor in it, and how you determine a minor, and there are rightly a lot of concerns about if you have to provide documentation, a social security card, a drivers license to prove you’re a minor,” Eleveld said. “This is stuff that can be hacked, it can be that companies can use against these kids.”

While the Legislature has previously defined terms such as “minor” and “parent” in legislation, like in a law passed in February requiring app stores to have age verifications for minors, it has yet to define artificial intelligence.

Yonathan Arbel, a law professor at the University of Alabama, also cautioned on the type of age verification definitions the state should use. There is the simple verification, like in an app store law from February, and there is age assurance. 

“I would urge you to think about when each type of age verification method is appropriate and what tolerance do we have for mistakes,” Arbel said.

Age verification, he said, is more binary but easy to bypass, whereas age assurance is based on behavior compounded with government documents used in age verification, but can still be inaccurate. 

Robbins said the potential harms children face in modern technology are the same they faced 30 years ago, just in a different medium. 

“Human history has changed, but harms have not changed. Assault of a child is the same today as it was 2,000 years ago, and you’re explaining that there are now new doors to walk through to create that harm,” he said. “No longer are you saying ‘Don’t take candy from the stranger’ because the candy from the stranger has now moved to another location, and they’re operating online.”

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.