French President Emmanuel Macron launches charter to protect children from AI risks

French President Emmanuel Macron has launched an international charter to regulate the development and safety of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with the primary objective of protecting the mental health of children, according to a report by RFI.

Macron took this significant step on the eve of the adoption of this charter at the Paris Peace Forum. In an interview given to the French daily Les Echos, he warned that AI cannot be left as a 'wild west' simply because it is AI. Macron also stated that if certain uses of AI pose a risk to children, they should be banned. He is also pushing for bans on certain social media platforms for children under 15 years of age.

On Tuesday, an expert committee of psychiatrists, lawyers, economists, and scientists presented Macron with a report titled "Generative AI and Vulnerabilities". Coordinated by the AI and Digital Council (CIANum), the committee held 55 meetings since February and prepared 18 recommendations.

Professor Amin Benyamina, a psychiatrist and addiction expert at Paris-Saclay University and co-chair of the scientific committee, told France Inter Radio that France should not miss the generative AI wave, but must be cautious not to hit any obstacles. Benyamina warned that the greatest risk of using generative AI is "cognitive debt". This means that people will not fully utilise their natural abilities to think, reflect, and make decisions. He added that people will become dependent on it to find information, which will increase "cognitive laziness" and dependency, and could ultimately terminate human "free will".

The committee also mentioned "emotional dependency" as another vulnerability, which is increasing due to the flattery provided by AI. According to Benyamina, these issues can also affect the ideology and opinion of society. During elections, information released by AI is considered more reliable and less controversial, which is dangerous. Citing the example of the Scottish parliamentary elections in May 2026, he stated that 35 per cent of the information distributed by AI to voters was false.

Researchers emphasised the special need to protect children from the harmful effects of AI. According to data, 26 per cent of children aged 12 to 17 in France use generative AI daily, while nearly 70 per cent of youth aged 15 to 24 use it regularly. According to a survey released in May, almost nine out of ten youths use AI tools for conversation, and about half of them discuss personal matters with it. A survey conducted across four European countries by VYV Mutual Insurance Group and the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) revealed that 48 per cent of youths use conversational AI to discuss personal or internal topics, and 33 per cent of people view it as a "therapist" in certain situations. Among youths suffering from anxiety, this figure rises to 46 per cent.

The committee's 18 recommendations appeal to leaders to develop an ambitious national AI education policy and to introduce independent assessments before and after generative AI systems enter the market.

Emmanuel Macron is the President of France and has been continuously raising his voice for the regulation of Artificial Intelligence.