Ohio Legislature Bill: Prohibition of Marriage between Humans and AI Chatbots.
Marriage equality is once again a topic of discussion in the Ohio legislature, but this time the debate is not about marriage between two humans but rather, between humans and software.
The proposal aiming to define the boundaries of digital love
A bill has been introduced in the state to prohibit legal marriages between AI programs and human users. Ohio news outlet NBC-4 reported that Technology and Innovation committee legislator Thaddeus Claggett introduced a bill to ban such unions. Bill 469 not only prohibits marriages between AI and humans but also prevents AI programs from obtaining legal personhood. The bill states: “No AI system shall be recognized as a spouse, cohabitating partner, or be granted any legal status resembling marriage or union of a human with any other AI system. Any attempt to marry or form a personal union with an AI system shall be null and void, with no legal effect.”
Claggett’s interest in banning unions between AI and humans may have more to do with maintaining the exclusive legal rights of humans than preventing people from forming emotional attachments with their software programs to the point of deciding to marry them. The goal is to prevent AI programs from assuming roles typically conferred by marriage, such as becoming legal guardians or making financial decisions. Claggett stated, “As computing systems improve their ability to act more human-like, we want to ensure that the law prohibits these systems from being considered human in their actions.”
It is unclear if the rest of the state legislators support the motion. The bill introduced by Claggett in September is still under debate in the relevant committee in the state.
