Prince Harry calls AI the ‘ultimate sycophant,’ urging swift slowdown to protect children
By Sophie Tanno, CNN
(CNN) — Prince Harry has joined calls for an urgent slowdown in the development of AI, calling it that “ultimate sycophant” and warning that technology is moving faster than researchers can keep pace with.
The Duke of Sussex made the comments at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting in New York, which comes amid rising alarm over AI after a worker at leading company Anthropic put the chance of AI-powered human extinction within 10 years at greater than 10%.
Harry, in his first public appearance in the US since returning to live in the UK, focused in particular on the risks to children, with the duke warning that the systems developed by tech giants like chatbots aim to “find you, hook you, exploit you, break and then blame you.”
While praising advances made globally to restrict children’s access to social media, as well as hold tech giants accountable, Harry warned, “Technology is moving on. Fast.”
He pointed to a lawsuit which alleged that AI chatbots have contributed to the deaths of teenagers “who trusted them with things no child should have been left alone to ask an algorithm.”
“Social media learned how to capture our attention. AI is learning how to enter our relationships,” Harry said, arguing that companies choose to distance themselves from the responsibility of the systems that they built and instead blame parents and children.
“It doesn’t just want your attention, it wants your attachment. It wants to be the thing you confide in. The thing that remembers you. The thing that tells you it understands you. The ultimate sycophant. And for a child, that distinction matters enormously,” he added.
He called for a slowdown of the development of AI, as well as prioritizing innovation that centers around trust and safety.
“Even people building these systems are warning us about what happens if capability outruns safety and human control,” he said.
The Duke of Sussex’s speech was marred by a fault with the teleprompter, meaning that he was forced to complete it in two halves.
“AI got into my speech, so I was asked to come out and finish it,” he joked as he returned to the stage.
Harry is known for high-profile campaigns speaking about the harmful impact of technology on young people. His 2024 speech at the CGI focused on the dangers of social media and targeted the heads of “dangerously powerful” social media conglomerates.
His appearance in New York comes less than a month after he returned to the UK alongside his his wife, Meghan Markle, and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
There are recent signs of tension within the Royal Family after a letter sent on behalf of King Charles clarified that Harry and Meghan should be treated as “private citizens” following their return.
The Sussexes are said to have been “surprised” by the letter, according to a spokesperson for the couple.
Meanwhile Harry’s uncle, Earl Spencer continues to defend claims in a book in which he alleged King Charles said of the late Princess Diana “we’ll forget her soon enough” in the aftermath of her death. Buckingham Palace has forcefully pushed back against the allegation.
This story has been updated with new information.
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CNN’s Max Foster, Billy Stockwell and Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed reporting.
