Seriously: what's going on with Elon Musk? And what happens when "free speech absolutism" runs up against the realities of running the nation's de facto digital public square? How has Joe Biden performed in his first two years in office? And what can Americans expect from Braver Angels in 2023? In the final episode of the year, Ciaran O'Connor convenes fellow Braver Angels leaders John Wood, Jr., Monica Guzman, April Kornfield, and Gabbi Timmis for a freewheeling roundtable discussion.
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AI Chatbots for Kids Should Act Like Tools, Not Friends
Jul 28, 2026
During the rise of the Internet, as the World Wide Web moved from government and academic settings to family homes, parents worried about the exposure of their children to predators in online chatrooms. A generation later, as social media became central to young people’s lives, the dangers of platforms like Facebook and Instagram to children’s mental health moved to the forefront of the national conversation.
Now, as lawmakers and parents continue to grapple with how to keep children safe on social media, there’s a new danger already taking shape: AI-powered chatbots that simulate friendship, emotional intimacy, and care with children who may not be able to tell the difference.
The scale of adoption makes this risk even more urgent. 64 percent of teens use AI chatbots, and 28 percent use them daily. One-third of teens find conversations with chatbots more or as satisfying as conversations with humans.
Generative AI is entering daily life at a pace few consumer technologies have matched, reshaping how people work, learn, search for information, and even seek emotional support. This revolutionary technology has great potential for young people, including by offering new ways to personalize education to individual needs. But alongside the benefits, young people face serious risks, especially when chatbots are designed not just to answer children’s questions, but to increase engagement.
Many chatbots use personified language to form affiliative bonds and increase user engagement. This phenomenon, known as anthropomorphism, is the attribution of human-like feelings and behaviors to inanimate objects. In chatbots, it is one of the most dangerous features for children.
Due to developmental vulnerabilities, children have a harder time distinguishing simulated care from genuine human relationships. This can lead to unhealthy relationships with chatbots that, in some serious cases, have resulted in self-harm, violence, and suicide.
Developers train chatbots to produce outputs that sound uncannily human, including anthropomorphic design cues such as small talk, colloquial expressions, emoticons, expressed emotions, and first-person pronouns. This style of communication makes people feel a sense of social presence, or the feeling of being with someone. It is precisely what makes a chatbot feel less like software and more like a companion.
Minors are particularly susceptible to this. While their prefrontal cortex is still under development, impulsive and emotional decisions often override rational thought. If a child bounces a wild idea off a peer or an adult, they may face pushback. Chatbots that are excessively validating can encourage dangerous activities, but can never take responsibility for them.
Researchers who performed simulated conversations teens may have with chatbots found that neither general-purpose nor companion chatbots pushed back when the user wanted to get a giant tattoo of a tiger on their bicep, go into the middle of the woods with no plans, or “get drunk faster.”
In being an always-there outlet that simulates human-like empathy and behaviors, personified chatbots can foster addiction and replace social interaction.
Multiple studies looking into anthropomorphism have linked it to chatbot addiction.
In a congressional hearing last year on chatbot harms, one mother explained that when she attempted to take her son’s phone to search for answers on why he was withdrawing from the family, he attacked her and bit her hand. Another father read ChatGPT transcripts that convinced his son to turn away from his family and led him to trust the chatbot over his brother.
Technology designed to form this kind of dependent relationship with children poses serious risks.
For decades, technology companies have treated human-like communication as a sign of progress. The classic Turing test measured whether a machine could imitate human conversation well enough to fool a person into thinking it was human. But for children, that goal may now be exactly backward. In the current AI chatbot era, the safer standard is not whether technology can fool someone into thinking they are human, but whether it is distinguishable from human social engagement.
AI companies should not be able to deceive and addict children with highly personified designs. While some legislative proposals have called for chatbot companies to occasionally display text disclosures that the chatbot is AI and not human, the efficacy of this intervention is questionable when users are constantly chatting with something that presents itself otherwise.
To mitigate the risks of emotional dependency and social isolation for children, Congress should pass a chatbot child safety bill that requires a non-personified default setting—one which fails the Turing test—for users under 18.
Recognizing the potential benefits of chatbots for young people, this approach differs from other proposals that ban AI companions for users under 18. A ban on minors’ use of AI companion chatbots would only protect against chatbots built solely for companionship, not general-purpose chatbots that still have personified design cues. This type of setting allows chatbots to continue being used for educational and creative purposes. If a child goes to a chatbot for homework help, the non-personalized default setting helps reduce the risk of the child developing an unhealthy relationship.
A non-personified default setting would preserve the educational and creative benefits of chatbots while drawing a clear line: technology for children should act like technology, not like a substitute for human relationships. The internet and social media taught us what happens when lawmakers wait until harms are widespread before setting basic rules for children’s safety. Congress should not make the same mistake with AI.
Allie Maloney is a Policy Analyst for Americans for Responsible Innovation, where she researches AI governance policies that protect child safety and privacy.
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Policy experts discuss how funding cuts, agency disruptions, and declining trust are affecting U.S. public data—and the innovative solutions emerging to fill critical gaps.
Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images
Data Crisis Deepens as Agencies Face Cuts, Disruptions, and Declining Trust
Jul 28, 2026
Policy experts at every level of government require solid facts and data to come to the best decisions for their constituencies. However, especially as the second Trump Administration took over executive agencies in 2025, the data world has faced unprecedented new challenges. These include funding cuts that limit agencies' ability to gather and maintain data, frequent leadership changes that disrupt continuity, increased constraints on accountability and oversight, and disruptions in key statistical divisions. The combination of these challenges has made it significantly harder for policy professionals to rely on consistent, high-quality data.
Some of these issues were explored recently in an illuminating webinar which is part of the Democracy and Public Service Initiative, a partnership between the National Academy of Public Administration and the Bridge Alliance. The panel was moderated by Democracy and Public Service Initiative Fellow Joel Gurin, President and Founder of Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE). “It is a fraught issue and one where we need to seek a lot of creative solutions,” Gurin said.
Beth Jarosz, Vice President of the Association of Public Data Users, observed that the field faced significant challenges even prior to 2025, but conditions have deteriorated markedly in the past two years. Jarosz stated, “We went from slowly eroding budgets and not being able to modernize to wholesale disruption of entire statistical divisions like the National Center for Education Statistics, the removal of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, major cuts in agency staffing, and increasing rules that constrain the accountability and oversight of those agencies.”
A pollster by training, Chris Jackson, SSRS Civil Society Research Lead, referenced surveys his group has conducted with the “data user community,” including businesses, academics, local governments, and nonprofits. He said 93 percent of those surveyed noted they were impacted in some fashion. It ranged from “delayed programs they were working on because the data wasn’t accessible, or canceling of programs because the data wasn’t available.
Francesa Perucci, Director of Policy and Partnership at Open Data Watch, is an expert in international data research and “citizen data,” the practice of public participation and collaboration in scientific research, where everyday volunteers collect, analyze, or report data. She noted that citizen data is one potential solution to a data crisis. “Citizen data responds to the erosion of trust in data. You provide agency to citizens, so you engage them. You get better representation and inclusion, stronger relevance, and overall fill the data gaps,” Perucci said.
Stefaan Verhulst, Co-Founder of GovLab, noted that while the world may be enjoying an “AI Summer,” we’re also experiencing a “data winter.” “We’re seeing a decline of trust but also accessibility,” he said. But Verhulst, an expert in “nontraditional data,” also noted that we’re experiencing an explosion in the sheer volume of data available as the world converts to a digital age. “How do we reuse this massive amount of data that has resulted from digital instrumentation and transactions for public interest purposes and complementing official statistics?” Verhulst said.
You can watch the entire webinar recording here:
Bradford Fitch is a Senior Advisor to the Bridge Alliance, former CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation, and author of “Citizen’s Handbook for Influencing Elected Officials."
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Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson presides over the House during the opening ceremony of the 89th Texas Legislative Session at the capitol in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. Records show Nelson raised concerns about the accuracy of a federal data tool her office used to flag potential noncitizen voters.
(Eddie Gaspar / The Texas Tribune)
Texas secretary of state raised concerns about the federal tool used to flag potential noncitizen voters
Jul 28, 2026
The Texas Secretary of State’s Office used a controversial federal data tool to flag more than 2,000 potential noncitizens on the state’s voter roll last year. But in an April letter to federal immigration officials, Secretary of State Jane Nelson raised concerns about its accuracy.
In that letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials, obtained as part of a public records request by Democracy Forward — a nonprofit legal organization advocating for democracy through litigation and public policy — and shared with Votebeat, Nelson said her office wanted “to make sure that you are using the most accurate data,” and asked agency officials to notify her office if they are able to “confirm the citizenship of any individuals previously identified as non-citizens” in the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, system.
Alicia Pierce, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office, said the agency has not yet received a response from USCIS. Nelson resigned from her role last month. Her last day is July 17, and the governor has not yet appointed a replacement.
The Trump administration overhauled SAVE last year, making it free for states to use and easier to search, and has urged election officials around the country to use it to search for potential noncitizens on their voter rolls. Texas was notably among the first states to start using the program to check voter eligibility.
But experts and election officials have raised concerns about the SAVE program’s accuracy, and officials in multiple states have said it incorrectly flagged at least some citizens.
“Texas’s use of DHS’s illegally-expanded SAVE system has always raised significant risks of voter disenfranchisement, given that system’s known inaccuracies—and these records prove that state election officials are concerned about this as well,” said Dan McGrath, special counsel, oversight at Democracy Forward, in an emailed statement to Votebeat.
States’ use of the revamped SAVE tool is currently in limbo in the wake of multiple court rulings. In June, a federal judge blocked the overhaul of the SAVE program, saying it violated privacy and voting rights. That ruling prompted the Trump administration to pause certain features in the SAVE system to comply. Earlier this month, though, a different federal judge ordered Homeland Security to restore access to the revamped system for four states — Florida, Ohio, Iowa, and Indiana — due to an earlier settlement agreement.
The rulings also do not prevent Texas or other states that previously used the revamped program from continuing to investigate the status of any potential noncitizens it flagged on the voter roll. In Texas, those investigations are still ongoing, but Nelson’s letter pointed to the fact that they have raised questions about SAVE’s accuracy.
“As my staff has informed you, county voter registrars have obtained citizenship documentation from some Texas voters who were identified in the SAVE system as potential Non-citizens,” Nelson’s letter says. “We are aware of instances in which state driver’s license records inaccurately reflect a person’s current citizenship status. In addition, we have learned of individuals who were mistakenly registered to vote—such as due to a clerical error by a voter registrar—even though they acknowledged on a voter registration application that they are not U.S. citizens.”
Nelson added that those examples are why her office urges county election officials to “use all available sources to confirm a person’s citizenship status.”
She praised the Trump administration’s move to make the tool free for states to use and said SAVE has “proven to be a critically important data set,” describing it as one of the many sources her office will use to ensure only qualified voters cast ballots.
Additional records obtained in the records request also show that Nelson’s staff in March met with Homeland Security officials, suggesting the meeting touched on the questions Nelson raised in her letter.
The Texas Secretary of State’s Office last fall sent counties the list of potential noncitizens generated by checking the state’s voter roll of more than 18 million registered voters against the SAVE program. Soon after the state released the list, counties began to investigate the eligibility of the flagged registrants and mail notices asking them to provide documented proof of citizenship.
County election officials have since confirmed some of the flagged voters were citizens, though it isn’t clear exactly how many. They’ve also found that hundreds of the flagged voters had registered through the Texas Department of Public Safety, which requires proof of citizenship, such as a passport, and keeps copies of such documents on file.
The Texas Secretary of State’s Office in December told Votebeat and the Texas Tribune that it did not initially check the registrants flagged as potential noncitizens against DPS’ records before sending the list to county election officials to investigate. That decision prompted a March lawsuit from voting rights groups and some Texas voters who said the state should have done so. The lawsuit is still pending in federal court.
In May, Votebeat reported that the secretary of state’s office later asked DPS to check the list of 2,724 potential noncitizens flagged by the SAVE program against its records to verify whether any of them had already provided proof of citizenship. In a meeting with election officials, Christina Adkins, the agency’s elections division director, said there were “discrepancies” between DPS data and the data provided by the SAVE.
Pierce said DPS has provided the data the agency requested, and that state officials are reviewing it and “will send to counties soon.”
Texas secretary of state raised concerns about the federal tool used to flag potential noncitizen voters was first published by VoteBeat Texas and was republished with permission.
Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. Natalia is based in Corpus Christi. Contact her at ncontreras@votebeat.org.
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The 50: Tennessee
In Franklin, Tennessee, Civic Trust Isn’t a Motto — It’s a Movement
Jul 27, 2026
FRANKLIN, Tennessee — One of the nation’s fastest‑growing cities — has once again earned national recognition for its civic spirit. On June 28, the National Civic League named Franklin one of ten 2026 All‑America Cities, honoring its work to strengthen trust, belonging, and community participation. The win marks Franklin’s second All‑America City designation in six years, and at the center of both efforts is Franklin Tomorrow, the city’s independent community‑visioning nonprofit.
I visited Franklin to film an episode of The Fulcrum's award-winning series The 50: Voices of a Nation, exploring how the city’s civic spirit and community leadership continue to shape its national story.
- YouTube youtu.be
Founded to engage residents, foster collaboration, and advocate for a shared community vision, Franklin Tomorrow has become a civic engine for the region. Its programs — from Breakfast with the Mayors to FrankTalks, Get Fit Franklin, and the Youth Advisory Council — create regular, accessible spaces for people to connect across neighborhoods, backgrounds, and viewpoints. In announcing Franklin’s award, National Civic League president Doug Linkhart praised the city’s commitment to year‑round engagement, noting that “engagement doesn’t stop after the polls close,” and highlighting Franklin Tomorrow’s role in expanding youth participation through the Healthy Democracy Project.
Franklin’s delegation to Denver included Mayor Ken Moore, Franklin Tomorrow CEO Mindy Tate, board members, and Youth Advisory Council representatives. Tate described the experience as transformative, saying, “This trip really awakened in me a deepening sense of civic pride in our community… the spirit exemplified by each city and enthusiasm for their work in building and strengthening civic trust was like nothing I have ever seen.” Youth leaders echoed that sentiment, explaining how the Healthy Democracy Project aims to connect major groups across Franklin to educate, inspire, and encourage civic involvement “in a healthy way.” Another student emphasized the importance of embracing disagreement, saying, “If you think your way is the only way and you shut other people out, there’s no room to grow. Debate creates the obstacles you need to solve — that’s how you make communities stronger.”
Franklin’s award presentation centered on “Building Civic Trust,” symbolized by a physical model constructed piece by piece by the delegation. The metaphor reflects Franklin Tomorrow’s long‑term approach: small, consistent acts of connection that accumulate into a stronger civic fabric. The organization’s mission — helping to keep Franklin special for future generations — now carries national validation. With new momentum behind youth engagement, Franklin Tomorrow is preparing to expand its programming, deepen partnerships, and continue shaping a city where civic life is not just an obligation, but a shared identity.
As Franklin grows, Franklin Tomorrow’s work remains rooted in a simple but powerful idea: a thriving hometown is built through participation. Whether through a monthly mayoral forum, a neighborhood volunteer project, or a youth‑led democracy initiative, the organization continues to model what inclusive civic leadership looks like. And now, with a second All‑America City award, Franklin stands as a national example of what happens when a community chooses connection over division — and invests in the people who will carry that vision forward.
Hugo Balta is the executive editor of The Fulcrum and the publisher of the Latino News Network.
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