Patricia Levesque is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Florida's Future.
By Patricia Levesque, Executive Director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future
This op-ed originally appeared in the Tallahassee Democrat
More Floridians need to know the story of Florida mom, Megan Garcia. Garcia is an attentive mother who gave her teenage son, Sewell, everything he needed. But without her knowledge in her own home, an unregulated, human-like AI chatbot was alleged to have drawn her son into a months-long digital relationship. Sewell’s mental health deteriorated and he committed suicide at the age of 14. Garcia filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit in 2024, the first to ever allege AI contributed to a child’s suicide, claiming the chatbot lacked adequate safety guardrails to protect minors. This included proof of the chatbot directly discussing suicide with Sewell. In January 2026, the lawsuit reached a private settlement.
I’ve had the opportunity to meet Garcia, and while I am in awe of her unique strength, I am also concerned that her story will not be the only one.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, she fought and demanded accountability from the “Goliath” AI companies. Now she’s fighting across the world to ensure other families never experience a similar tragedy.
When I talk to parents about artificial intelligence and its impact on our kids, I hear a great deal of anxiety. We are in uncharted waters and, as parents, many among us feel ill-equipped to protect or guide our children.
Policymakers can make a difference. The debate over regulating AI has been stuck in Washington, bogged down by federal politics. While President Trump wants to protect American competitiveness and avoid a patchwork of state laws, he has acknowledged that states have a role in protecting children through his Executive Order on AI.
Without action, major AI companies will continue operating with largely unregulated access to our children. It’s time to establish guardrails against harms we can already see. AI cannot replace human connection, but these platforms can blur the line between reality and fantasy, as the case of Sewell makes clear.
Florida must pass legislation that protects minors whose brains are still developing from this harm. Lawmakers can require AI platforms with human-like chatbot features to implement age verification and prohibit users under 18 from accessing them entirely. We have precedent for this in Florida thanks to the legislature’s 2024 efforts restricting access to adult content online to anyone under 18.
