Recital 32

Given the particular vulnerabilities of minors and the risks that AI companions and general conversational chatbots may pose to their health, safety, fundamental rights and well-being, providers of such AI systems should implement safety by design measures tailored to the specific characteristics and risks stemming from those systems in order to offer minors an age-appropriate experience. Safeguards should include safe settings and prohibitions on addictive designs. Furthermore, minors should not be exposed to features of the system displaying behaviours or simulating emotions or interpersonal relationships that are likely to create emotional and other dependencies, including when such dependencies may negatively impact relationships with other humans and the development of the minor. In order to prevent such systems from accumulating sensitive data of minors and potentially reinforce harmful interaction patterns over time, the persistent conversational memory of interactions with minors should be disabled by default except where necessary to protect their safety. AI companions and general conversational chatbots accessible to minors should also be subject to appropriate testing and evaluation before being placed on the market or put into service and at regular intervals thereafter.