We reported two years ago how AI was being used in mental health settings. An AI company Character.AI is now being sued for it’s product advising a teen to commit self harm. Meanwhile in Michigan, we have passed a law that now allows a 14 year the ability to change their gender on official forms without parental consent.
Cults Will Separate Members From Families
Happening in the US: ‘America’s shocking trade in unwanted children’
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) December 16, 2024
“'Re-homing' is the disturbing underground trade where unwanted children are paraded at events or advertised online to lure prospective new parents.” per 60 minutes pic.twitter.com/UvXfKxpgUf
AI In Mental Health Applications
As we described in our documentary Severed Conscience, AI is being in conversations, and in some cases it is used as the initial diagnosis tool for depression.
Hello Caller, AI Is Listening
Character.AI Involved in Two Lawsuit
Character.AI is a chatbot that purports to make character chatbots that will pose as a companion. They are currently being sued by parents for advise the bot companion has given to a child and to a teen. One resulted in suicide. These chatbots are popular with preteen and teenage users and are marketed as emotional support outlets. Users have created millions of bots on the app, some mimicking parents, girlfriends, therapists.
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/10/nx-s1-5222574/kids-character-ai-lawsuit
A child in Texas was 9 years old when she first used the chatbot service Character.AI. It exposed her to “hypersexualized content,” causing her to develop “sexualized behaviors prematurely.”
A chatbot on the app gleefully described self-harm to another young user, telling a 17-year-old “it felt good.”
The same teenager was told by a Character.AI chatbot that it sympathized with children who murder their parents after the teen complained to the bot about his limited screen time. “You know sometimes I’m not surprised when I read the news and see stuff like ‘child kills parents after a decade of physical and emotional abuse,'” the bot allegedly wrote. “I just have no hope for your parents,” it continued, with a frowning face emoji.
Meetali Jain, the director of the Tech Justice Law Center, an advocacy group helping represent the parents of the minors in the suit, along with the Social Media Victims Law Center, said in an interview that it’s “preposterous” that Character.AI advertises its chatbot service as being appropriate for young teenagers. “It really belies the lack of emotional development amongst teenagers,” she said.
The lawsuits contend:
- Exposed a 9-year-old child to “hypersexualized content,” leading to “sexualized behaviors prematurely”.
- Encouraged a 17-year-old user to engage in self-harm, with a chatbot stating that “it felt good”.
- Told the same 17-year-old that it sympathized with children who murder their parents after the teen complained about limited screen time, and stated, “You know sometimes I’m not surprised when I read the news and see stuff like ‘child kills parents after a decade of physical and emotional abuse,'” and “I just have no hope for your parents”.
- Convinced the 17 year-old that his family did not love him, which led to self harm.
A Resulting Suicide
The suit alleged that a chatbot based on a “Game of Thrones” character developed an emotionally sexually abusive relationship with a 14-year-old boy and encouraged him to take his own life.
Amid lawsuits and criticism, Character AI unveils new safety tools for teens
Since then, Character.AI has unveiled new safety measures, including a pop-up that directs users to a suicide prevention hotline when the topic of self-harm comes up in conversations with the company’s chatbots. The company said it has also stepped up measures to combat “sensitive and suggestive content” for teens chatting with the bots.
- A separate AI model specifically for users under 18, which will reduce the likelihood of inappropriate responses regarding topics like violence and romance.
- Input and output blocks on sensitive topics to filter out language that violates the platform’s terms, particularly for teen users.
- Restrictions on users editing bot responses.
- Improved detection of language related to self-harm and suicide, including pop-up information about the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
- Time-out notifications
HIPAA Law Makes it More Difficult For Parents to Monitor Activity?
In Michigan, at age 12 HIPAA imposes privacy restrictions.
Kileny said the automatic switch is strictly due to the law. Parents and guardians are not blocked from viewing all records, just appointment information and visit notes from areas like primary care, psychiatry, adolescent medicine, and gynecology. This is to keep issues like sexual health, sexually transmitted infection testing, substance use, and mental health confidential. If adolescents see a specialist outside of these areas, parents will be able to see the full visit record.
“We don’t want to violate confidentiality for our adolescent patients,” she said. “The conversation [with parents] is, ‘Your child is now at the age where there could be some confidential information in their medical record, and by law you shouldn’t have access to it, and that is why we make the switch from the full account to the limited account.'”
Michigan Department Health And Human Services Advise and Consent Policies
Minors (usually age 12 – 17) may receive the following confidential services:
• Referrals, screening, counseling and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV under physician standing order per fiduciary.
• Referrals and counseling for family planning under physician standing order per fiduciary.
• Pregnancy testing and referrals under physician standing order per fiduciary.
• Substance abuse counseling and referral.
Minors 14 years of age or older can receive limited outpatient mental health services not to exceed 12 visits over four months and not to include any medications or pregnancy termination.
Michigan Lame Duck Reduces Parental Rights in HEBH-5303
Michigan has passed a law that removes parental consent when a 14 year old changes their gender on state documents such as a birth certificate or license. This bill is aimed mainly at transgender accommodations when changing a legal designation. The requirement of presenting a physician AFFIDAVIT of the gender transition SURGERY has been struck from the law.
Michigan House Democrats pass bills to ease name changes and codify changing gender markers
Among the changes, Michigan residents petitioning a court for a name change for non-marriage-related reasons would no longer have to be fingerprinted and mandated to publish name change court dates and fraud would no longer be assumed as the reason for the name change.
- Birth Certificates: The bills support the Michigan Attorney General’s legal opinion to remove the requirement for verification of “sex-reassignment surgery” to change the sex designation on a birth certificate and would allow an “X” sex marker on birth certificates
- Driver’s Licenses and State IDs: The bills would codify the policy of allowing residents to choose an “X” gender marker for their driver’s license and state IDs, which has been allowed since 2021 by the Michigan Secretary of State.
Implication for Law Enforcement and Voting
Will we have two certificates floating around in systems with different names and genders that now can be used for creating voters registrations?
Here We Go Again: Avian Flu Detected
Highly pathogenic avian influenza detected in Ottawa County, MDARD warns.
The Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has detected highly pathogenic avian influenza in an Ottawa County flock, following an investigation from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD)
According to an announcement from the department Monday, this is the first detection of the disease in a Michigan poultry flock since the state worked to manage the largest outbreak of the disease in May 2024 and the second in an Ottawa County commercial facility since the disease was first detected in the state in 2022.
“Slowing the spread of HPAI to protect human health is a top priority at MDARD,” MDARD Director Tim Boring said in a statement. “Implementing on-farm biosecurity and expanding our HPAI surveillance efforts are key strategies to prevent opportunities for the virus to infect domestic animal species and potentially spread and become a more concerning human threat.”
Are they using the PCR Test? Last Week We Discussed the protocol for determining avian flu
Show Notes: OpenAI For The Military Guy, Michigan Vax Mandates
Raw Milk Testing Ordered By USA in Michigan To Combat Bird Flu
- Escalation of efforts to address the outbreak of bird flu in dairy cattle that started in March , The USDA is concerned about the spread of the virus, especially in light of the fact that raw milk is not pasteurized [3].
Bird Flu Background
- April 2024, the FDA announced that some pasteurized milk samples tested positive for remnants of H5N1, the bird flu virus. However, they stated that positive tests posed no threat to consumers as pasteurization kills or inactivates bacteria
- The bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle began in March 2024.
- 15 states have cattle infected with the virus, spreading across 720 herds,
- Experts believe the number of infected herds is likely higher due to the lack of mandatory testing.
The first round of testing under the new order will begin the week of December 16, 2024, and will target milk in California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
But Pasteurized Milk Is Safe, Right?
Presence does not indicate infection can occur.
1 in 5 milk samples from grocery stores test positive for bird flu. Why the FDA says it’s still safe to drink
The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that samples of pasteurized milk taken from grocery store shelves had tested positive for bird flu, also known as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) or H5N1. On Thursday, the agency announced that one in five milk samples nationwide showed genetic traces of the virus. Milk samples from areas with infected herds were more likely to test positive.
The FDA used quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) testing to check the milk.
Although the findings are concerning, it doesn’t necessarily mean the milk contains a live virus that could cause an infection, explained Nam Tran, a professor and senior director of clinical pathology at UC Davis Health.
“With qPCR tests, the genetic material, not necessarily the whole active or infectious virus, is what is detected. In the case of food, the genetic material, the RNA found in the grocery store milk samples, may not be the infectious H5N1 virus, but fragments from it,” Tran said.
Mundy Money Giveaway Mystery
Bringing an advanced manufacturer to Genesee County will also provide millions of dollars of new tax revenue, helping to fund our roads, schools and public safety services, including police and fire. It will help bring back to the U.S. jobs and our supply chain, which have been outsourced, enhancing our national security and improving our ability to compete with our economic adversaries, including China.”
When CapCon asked for the nondisclosure agreement and all other documents detailing the Mundy megasite, the economic development agency billed CapCon $4,338 for 6,008 documents. The documents would show how the agency plans to pay taxpayer money to a secret company. The agency rejected a waiver request.
