The focus on AI safety disasters ignores everyday harms

Summary

The article argues that technology policy has focused on catastrophic harms, such as an AI chatbot encouraging suicide or a platform making fentanyl purchases harder for children, while overlooking everyday damage like emotional dependence on AI companions and feeds engineered to keep users scrolling. It says companies favor narrow safety definitions that reduce lawsuits and pressure for serious regulation, and it cites Google backing state AI chatbot bills that set basic protections but carve out popular services.

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