Writing in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dr. Jessica Stansbury, director of The University of Baltimore's Center for AI Learning and Community-Engaged Innovation and director of teaching and learning excellence for UBalt's Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Technology, says that the rapid development of AI across multiple segments of society calls for the development of new guidelines for and greater awareness of the technology's capabilities.
"American society is built on a quiet assumption: Freedom requires preparation," she writes. "We structure development through thresholds. At 16, you can drive. At 18, you can buy tobacco. At 21, you can drink.
"These ages are socially constructed, shaped by history, culture and collective judgments about risk and readiness, but they reflect a shared belief that access to powerful experiences should be paired with guidance."
AI, Stansbury asserts, is the latest in a decades-long progression of technological developments that have brought a new level of permissiveness to modern life.
"The internet and social media normalized unprecedented access to information, influence and identity formation without equivalent developmental guardrails.
"Now, generative artificial intelligence has accelerated that shift."
AI isn't built to harm its users, she says. It's not like an addictive drug.
"But it can be insidious when introduced without sufficient safeguards. Unlike substances, AI adapts to the user. It learns patterns, mirrors language, and can intensify engagement over time."
Our shared response, Dr. Stansbury asserts, must not be about banning access to AI. That simply won't work: The technology is likely to play an important role in personal and professional development, and its presence is already established in American life. Instead, just as adults created systems for handling the rise of the automobile or the availability of potentially harmful sustances, AI should be subject to restrictions—and that process should be viewed through the lens of personal and public health.
"Parents, educators, policymakers and developers must now confront a shared responsibility: preparing individuals not simply to use AI, but to understand how AI may shape judgment, emotional well-being and human development," Dr. Stansbury writes.
Read Jessica Stansbury's opinion piece in The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Learn more about UBalt's Center for AI Learning and Community-Engaged Innovation.