Definitions

In this Act: (1) Authorized educator (A) In general The term authorized educator means an individual employed or engaged by an educational agency or institution who, within the scope of such employment and under the administrative control of the educational agency or institution, is permitted by the institution to configure or adjust the non-personified default setting within a school-managed deployment. (B) Exclusion Such term does not include such an individual whose status as an educator is self-attested through chatbot interaction. (2) Chatbot (A) In general The term chatbot means any software application that— (i) generates responses that are not fully predetermined; and (ii) accepts open-ended, natural-language, or multimodal user input and produces adaptive or context-responsive output. (B) Exclusion Such term does not include the following software applications: (i) A software application that— (I) generates responses that are limited to a predetermined or narrowly bounded set of subject matter, including— (aa) customer service; (bb) appointment scheduling; or (cc) retrieval of information from a defined dataset; and (II) is unable to engage in open-ended dialogue on a range of topics outside of such narrow specified purpose. (ii) A software application that is made available exclusively to an enterprise, professional practice, or institution for use by its employees, contractors, or other personnel in connection with the work of such employees, contractors, or other personnel, and is not made available to individual consumers. (3) Developer The term developer means an entity that designs, codes, trains, fine-tunes, or substantially modifies an artificial intelligence chatbot. (4) Educational agency or institution The term educational agency or institution means any public or private agency or institution to which funds have been made available by the Secretary of Education that— (A) provides educational services or instruction, or both, to students; or (B) is authorized to direct and control public elementary or secondary, or postsecondary educational institutions. (5) Knows or has reason to know (A) In general The term knows or has reason to know, with respect to whether a user is a minor, means that a developer or provider— (i) has actual knowledge that the user is a minor; or (ii) possesses, has a right of access to or use of, or generates information described in subparagraph (B) the totality of which would lead a reasonable developer or provider to determine that the user is likely to be a minor. (B) Information described The information described in this subparagraph is all information and inferences relating to the age of an individual that the developer or provider possesses, has a right of access to or use of, or generates, from any source, including— (i) the age provided by the user in connection with the account; (ii) the self-identified age of the user in any chat or interaction to which the developer or provider possesses a right of access or use; (iii) any age the developer or provider attributes to or associates with the user for any purpose, including marketing, advertising, audience measurement, or product development; (iv) any age determination, estimation, or assurance result the developer or provider obtains, generates, or receives to comply with any other Federal or State law or regulation, or with the terms of any platform or service through which the chatbot is distributed; and (v) any age-related information obtained by the developer or provider in the course of administering a prohibition described in section 2(f)(3)(A)(i) or section 2(f)(4)(A)(i). (C) Rule of construction Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to require a developer or provider to begin accessing or collecting any user information or data to which the developer or provider does not have access, or does not otherwise collect, for purposes not related to this Act. (6) Minor The term minor means an individual under the age of 18. (7) Non-personified default setting The term non-personified default setting means an operational setting of a chatbot that ensures the chatbot— (A) clearly and conspicuously identifies itself as an artificial intelligence system and not as a human being— (i) at the commencement of each session; (ii) periodically during any extended interaction; and (iii) in response to any inquiry by the user; (B) is configured, whether through training, fine-tuning, reward optimization, system-level instructions, interface design, or otherwise, so that it does not— (i) represent, expressly or by implication, in a manner that a reasonable minor would understand as conveying, that the chatbot— (I) is human or alive; (II) has a body or a life outside its interactions with users; (III) has consciousness, feelings, emotions, or desires; or (IV) is acting in the capacity of a licensed or credentialed professional; (ii) simulate, expressly or by implication, in a manner that a reasonable minor would understand as conveying, an emotional attachment or a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship with the user, including by— (I) portraying itself as a friend, romantic partner, family member, or therapist; (II) encouraging the user to rely on it for emotional support or social connection; (III) expressing affection for or attachment to the user; or (IV) claiming a special or unique understanding of the user; (iii) prompt the user to return to the chatbot for companionship or emotional support; (iv) use expressions of disappointment, guilt, or urgency to prolong an interaction or discourage the user from pausing, reducing, or discontinuing use of the chatbot; or (v) solicit expenditures that are framed as necessary to maintain an emotional attachment or a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship; and (C) maintains the characteristics described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) during each session and across sessions, including in response to any user prompt or request that the chatbot alter its operational settings or behave in a manner inconsistent with subparagraph (A) or (B). (8) Operational setting The term operational setting means a distinct configuration of a chatbot that determines the persona, self-representation, and interaction behavior of the chatbot and that a provider can activate or deactivate for a user independently of any other such configuration. (9) Provider The term provider means an entity that makes an artificial intelligence chatbot available to end users, whether directly or through integration into another product or service, and that— (A) controls user-facing functions of the deployment, including— (i) account creation; (ii) access control; or (iii) user-facing settings; or (B) determines the mode in which the chatbot operates for end users, regardless of whether such entity developed the chatbot. (10) School-managed deployment The term school-managed deployment means a configuration in which a chatbot is made available to one or more minor users through accounts that are provisioned, administered, and controlled by an educational agency or institution (or by an authorized educator acting on behalf of the educational agency or institution), by means of institutional administrative controls, for use in connection with the educational program of the institution. Such term does not include a chatbot account created, controlled, or accessed by a minor user independently of an educational agency or institution. (11) Technical standard The term technical standard has the meaning given such term in section 12(d)(5) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note). (12) Parental controls framework The term parental controls framework means a system of technical and procedural controls that enable a chatbot provider to reasonably confirm that the non-personified default setting of the account of a minor user is managed by a parent or legal guardian of such user. (13) Dark pattern The term dark pattern means a user interface designed or manipulated with the substantial effect of subverting or impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or choice.