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 artificial intelligence, calling it the “ultimate sycophant” and warning that technology is moving too fast for researchers to keep pace.

The Duke of Sussex made the comments at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting in New York, which is being held 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 United Kingdom, focused in particular on the risks to children. He warned that systems such as chatbots developed by tech giants 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 alleging 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. He argued that companies choose to distance themselves from the responsibility of the systems 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.

Harry called for a slowdown of the development of AI, as well as prioritizing innovation that centers on 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, forcing him 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 speaking out in high-profile campaigns 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, Duchess of Sussex, and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

New signs of tension within the royal family emerged recently 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 that King Charles said after the 1997 death of Princess Diana, Harry’s mother, “We’ll forget her soon enough.” 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.