Young Canadians Call for Rules to Make Chatbots Less Addictive, Clearly Label AI Content: Report

A group of young Canadians is calling on Ottawa to order artificial intelligence companies to curb the addictive aspects of their AI chatbots and ensure clear labelling of AI content.

The report published this week by the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University calls for stronger user controls, tighter data privacy rules, measures against misinformation, and new oversight of how AI systems are designed and used.

Input was gathered from thousands of youth online, as well as more than 100 young adults aged 17 to 23, who joined in-person discussions in four Canadian cities between November 2025 and March 2026

“We are confident that the recommendations drafted by Gen(Z)AI participants represent something rarely achieved in technology governance: the democratic voice of those who have the most to gain or lose, speaking clearly and in their own name,” according to a foreword by the authors of the report, titled, “Gen(Z)AI: Canada’s Youth Assembly on Artificial Intelligence.”

Chatbot Recommendations

The report recommends users have greater control when interacting with AI chatbots, along with the ability to determine the AI’s persona and interaction style.

It also recommends AI platforms be required to “address the addictive design of AI chatbots by requiring measures such as content filters and optional data cache deletion, and explicitly providing users with the ability to determine levels of responsiveness and conversationality.”

Chatbots often affirm users’ beliefs and emotional states, creating the false impression that they’re being understood, the report said, adding that companies intentionally design chatbots that way to boost profits.

“The sycophancy of many chatbot systems is intended to sustain interaction, cultivate dependency, and maximize time-on-platform,” the report said. “Several participants described their own experiences of cognitive off-loading or emotional reliance that they found difficult to reverse, and linked these dynamics to design choices they had never consented to.”

Information Integrity

AI-generated content, including misinformation and disinformation, inundates users and erodes trust, with “disproportionate effects on vulnerable populations,” the report said.

“AI recommendation systems push ideologically extreme content and reinforce echo chambers, contributing to social and political polarization online and offline,” the authors wrote.

The report recommends Ottawa require all digital platforms to not only label AI-generated content, but also give users the option to exclude it.

People should also be given copyright over their own features and likeness, and an online regulator should be in charge of enforcing the removal of non-consensual AI-generated material, the report said.

Participants also said the government should require platforms to monitor, flag, and openly share information about the spread of misinformation and disinformation.

They also called for standards for how AI systems recommend content and use personal data, saying this could help limit harmful material and the influence of bots, while encouraging local content. The standards should include a way to verify content from trusted sources, like news outlets and public service organizations, through an independent third party, they said.

Privacy Recommendations

The report said AI systems are intentionally vague about how they gather user data and disclose its collection, making it harder for people to give informed consent for the use and sale of their data.

“AI systems are not subject to adequate and enforceable safeguards for the collection, storage, and sharing of user data,” the authors wrote. “This may lead to (un)intended harms, including, but not limited to, excessive surveillance and profiling.”

Participants suggested Ottawa require platforms and AI companies to clearly explain how they collect and use people’s data, and to publish a version of their terms and conditions that is written in plain language and is accessible by default.

They also proposed the creation of rules that would protect user privacy by default on all AI systems, along with regulations obliging platforms and AI companies to restrict data handling to clear, specific purposes that users have agreed to.

AI users should be able to delete their data upon request, the report added, noting that AI companies should be subject to harsher legal consequences for mishandling sensitive user data.

Participants were set to hold an event to present the report and their recommendations on Parliament Hill this week.

The report comes as the federal government is working on separate pieces of legislation to tackle online privacy and online harms, while also pledging to establish a national AI strategy. The online harms bill could include an age requirement for social media access, similar to a ban implemented in Australia last year for children under 16.  The government is also considering including AI chatbots in any ban.

The report said the participants felt excluded from governance processes involving digital issues.

“This was particularly salient in discussions of age assurance, where the vulnerability of children and young people is routinely invoked as a justification for regulatory intervention, yet young people themselves remain largely absent from the decision-making spaces where those interventions are designed,” the report said.

The report also highlighted privacy issues related to age verification technologies and called for an age-verification system that would “restrict users’ access to generative AI platforms through the creation of an anonymized digital token system.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.