(Washington) US President Joe Biden on Tuesday discussed the risks of artificial intelligence (AI), which is developing at full speed, during a meeting with advisers.

Asked by journalists about the dangerousness of AI, Joe Biden replied that it “remains to be seen. It could be.”

This technology could help deal with “very serious challenges, like disease and climate change,” the Democrat told experts at the White House Council on Science and Technology.

However, it poses “risks to our society, our economy, and our national security,” he said.

“In my opinion, tech companies need to make sure their products are safe,” Biden said. “Without safeguards, we see what the mental health and self-image consequences are. »

Social networks are regularly accused of harming the mental health of their youngest users, for example by leading them to compare themselves to the perfect images that flood these platforms.

The Democratic president again called on Congress to put in place “strict limits” on the personal data collected by tech groups, and to ban targeted advertising aimed at children.

American companies are at the forefront of the burgeoning AI industry.

At the end of March, Elon Musk and hundreds of world experts called for a six-month pause in artificial intelligence research.

In an open letter, they spoke in particular of “major risks for humanity”.