Progressive Charlestown

Rep. Tina Spears bill for guardrails on use of artificial intelligence in mental health care passes the General Assembly

noreply@blogger.com (Progressive Charlestown) — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 15:59:00 +0000

Great job, Tina!

The General Assembly approved two pieces of legislation from Sen. Lori Urso and Rep. Tina L. Spears to create artificial intelligence safety guidelines related to suicidal ideation and mental health treatment. The bills are part of the Senate’s 17-bill package of healthcare legislation.

The first bill (2026-S 2195Aaa, 2026-H 7350Aaa) requires developers to incorporate protocols to protect vulnerable users who may express suicidal ideation, desires for self-harm or desires to physically harm others while interacting with a chatbot.

The systems would also be required to refer users to a crisis service provider as soon as it detects any of these expressions, and developers would have to submit annual reports to the Attorney General’s office showing the number of safety protocol activations and related metrics.

“AI chatbots are a new kind of technology that provide an experience that to many users feels like speaking to a friend or a therapist. But chatbots aren’t human and they do not live up to the professional standards of a trained therapist,” said Representative Spears (D-Dist. 36, Charlestown, New Shoreham, South Kingstown, Westerly). “This legislation puts up necessary guardrails to protect the users of chatbots, because, as we have seen in too many tragic instances, the products are not currently equipped to deal with users experiencing a crisis in a safe and responsible manner. Whether at home or in a clinical setting, human oversight and thoughtful safety regulation are necessary to keep Rhode Islanders safe from a growing and untested technology.”

Progressive Charlestown

Rep. Tina Spears bill for guardrails on use of artificial intelligence in mental health care passes the General Assembly

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