Contents
CONTACT
Chase Hardin
chase@futureoflife.org
TALLAHASSEE, FL — Governor Ron DeSantis has directed Florida state agencies to collaborate with the Future of Life Institute (FLI) to develop two groundbreaking initiatives aimed at protecting children and communities from the growing psychological and social harms caused by AI chatbots and companion applications. This marks the first formal state-level partnership of its kind between a governor’s office and a leading AI safety organization.
The collaboration will produce a Crisis Counselor Training Curriculum designed to prepare mental health professionals to recognize and respond to AI-related harms, and an AI Harms Reporting Form that will allow any person, parent, guardian, or teacher to formally report harm caused by an AI product directly to state authorities.
“Florida has always led the way in protecting children and families, and that doesn’t stop at the digital frontier,” said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. “AI companion apps are targeting our kids — building emotional dependency, exploiting vulnerabilities, and destroying families. This partnership gives our counselors the training they need and gives every Florida family a voice.”
The Crisis Counselor Training Curriculum will make Florida the first state in the US and first government anywhere in the world to equip licensed mental health professionals with the frameworks and clinical tools needed to identify when AI-related interactions have contributed to psychological distress, emotional dependency, or behavioral harm, particularly in minors. The curriculum will be developed in coordination with state agencies and informed by FLI’s expertise on the impact of AI harms.
The AI Harms Reporting Form will provide a structured, accessible mechanism for any member of the public — parents, teachers, guardians, counselors or individuals — to report specific harms caused by AI companion platforms. Reports will be collected and analyzed to inform future legislative and regulatory action at the state and federal level.
“These systems are designed to emotionally hook users and cultivate attachment. They employ some of the most insidious and relentless psychological techniques to build rapid rapport and deep psychological dependency,” said FLI co-founder Prof. Meia Chita-Tegmark, an expert on child development and human-AI interaction. “The damage is real: again and again, evidence shows that interactions with these systems lead to suicidal, delusional and violent ideation. We can’t let this harm fester in darkness. This partnership is a first step towards building the protections our children deserve.”
The announcement builds on the Pro-Human Declaration published late last week, a set of 33 AI principles endorsed by a broad bipartisan coalition including labor unions, faith groups, progressive advocacy organizations, and conservative media voices. Among those principles: that companies must not exploit children or undermine their wellbeing through AI interactions that create emotional attachment or leverage, a principle supported by 77% of Americans.
“Governor DeSantis is showing what real leadership looks like: Not waiting for the next tragedy to make headlines, but building the infrastructure to document harm, support those already being hurt, and prevent the harms still to come,”, said FLI President and CEO Anthony Aguirre. “An overwhelming majority of Americans want the commonsense AI guardrails necessary to protect our families and safeguard our futures. This is prohuman policy in action.”
The AI Harms Reporting Form will be publicly accessible through a state-designated web portal upon launch. Details on the Crisis Counselor Training Curriculum rollout, including training timelines and participating agencies, will be announced in the coming months.
About the Future of Life Institute
The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is the world’s oldest and largest AI think tank, with a team of 35+ full-time staff operating across the US and Europe. FLI has been working to steer the development of transformative technologies towards benefitting life and away from extreme large-scale risks since its founding in 2014. Find out more about our mission or explore our work.