Writers, artists and broadcasters

Michael Toscano

Director of the Institute for Family Studies' Family First Technology Initiative

4 records

Records

In general, AI sexual or romantic companions are predatory and should not be permitted to come to market in the United States.

Michael Toscano

Director of the Institute for Family Studies' Family First Technology Initiative

In a March 2025 policy brief to the White House on its AI Action Plan, Michael Toscano and a coauthor wrote that AI sexual or romantic companions are predatory and should not be permitted to come to market in the United States.

Director, Family First Technology Initiative, Institute for Family StudiesMarch 2025Protecting the Family in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: 5 Recommendations for the White House’s AI Action Plan

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Context and checks

Surrounding words

… to monitor AI-based plagiarism and AI-related criminal activity as well as to take steps to ensure that minors are protected from AI-generated CSAM, AI chatbots marketed as “friends” or “romantic partners,” and other AI-related harms. In general, AI sexual or romantic companions are predatory and should not be permitted to come to market in the United States. Within AI regulation and R&D, potential AI-related harms to minors should be a critical part of any Family Impact and Opportunity Assessment (see above) and should be annually reported to the subgroups overseeing AI R&D, as well as

What this quote does not say

The brief gives only a month-level date.
Because the brief is coauthored, the sentence is jointly attributable but cannot be assigned to Toscano as its sole drafter.

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Quote located in the captured page; spacing normalised for display.

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The current question of automation has focused on work and the fear that AI and robotics will cause skyrocketing unemployment. That fear is not misplaced. Yet, it is still not the deepest threat that artificial intelligence holds for our self-understanding and role as human beings.

Exact quote, beginning

Michael Toscano

Director of the Institute for Family Studies' Family First Technology Initiative

In a July 2025 First Things essay, Michael Toscano wrote that the fear AI and robotics will cause skyrocketing unemployment is not misplaced, but that the deeper threat is AI moving humans aside in the work of locution, articulation, and conceptualization.

Senior Fellow and Director of the Family First Technology Initiative at the Institute for Family StudiesJuly 10, 2025First Things

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Surrounding words

In the factory we have a lifeless mechanism which is independent of the workers, who are incorporated into it as its living appendages. This diagnosis applies to our present crisis. The current question of automation has focused on work and the fear that AI and robotics will cause skyrocketing unemployment. That fear is not misplaced. Yet, it is still not the deepest threat that artificial intelligence holds for our self-understanding and role as human beings. In the work of locution, articulation, and conceptualization, humans are being moved to the side and replaced by the “lifeless mechanism” of AI into which the minds of workers will be incorporated as “appendages.” The mechanization of craft and muscle power convulsed the West in the nineteenth century, pitting class against class, spurring revolutionary violence, and toppling governments.

What this quote does not say

The passage is normative analysis rather than an empirical estimate and gives no probability or time horizon.
The linked support for the unemployment claim was not needed to attribute Toscano's explicit statement and was not independently evaluated here.

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Quote matched character-for-character against the captured page.

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Statements they signed

FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

This is a recipe for more violence. Therefore, every life taken must be a decision borne by a human conscience, not an algorithm.

Signed statement: “Statement on Moral Guardrails in AI” (Faith, Family & Technology Institute)

Michael Toscano

Director of the Institute for Family Studies' Family First Technology Initiative

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Michael Toscano was listed as a signer of the Statement on Moral Guardrails in AI, which opposes removing safeguards against mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.

Senior Fellow, Institute for Family StudiesDate not establishedStatement on Moral Guardrails in AI

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Surrounding words

Anthropic is challenging the designation in court (Where things stand with the Department of War \ Anthropic). Signatories Michael Toscano, Senior Fellow, Institute for Family Studies Will Jones, Associate, Future of Life Institute Roland Millare, Vice President of Curriculum and Director of Clergy Initiatives, St.

What this quote does not say

The name appears under the page's 'Signatories' heading; the form is open and its verification is undisclosed.
Roster observed 2026-08-19; signing date unknown.

How this was checked

The organiser's own roster lists this person as a signer.

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FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

Like drugs, chatbots must undergo pre-deployment testing for increased suicidal ideation, exacerbation of mental health disorders, escalation of acute crisis situations, and other known harms.

Signed statement: “Pro-Human AI Declaration” (FLI/broad coalition)

Michael Toscano

Director of the Institute for Family Studies' Family First Technology Initiative

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Michael Toscano was listed as a signer of the Pro-Human AI Declaration, which says AI should serve humanity and remain under human control.

Director, Family First Technology Initiative, Senior Fellow, Institute for Family StudiesDate not establishedPro-Human AI Declaration

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Surrounding words

Megan Garcia Blessed Mother Family Foundation Joann Bogard Parents SOS Michael Toscano Director, Family First Technology Initiative, Senior Fellow, Institute for Family Studies Audrey Tang Cyber Ambassador, Taiwan Mike Kubzansky CEO, Omidyar Network, Professor of Computational Engineering, Rice University, Member: US

What this quote does not say

The page labels the section 'Individual endorsers'; the public endorsement process is live and its verification is undisclosed.
Roster observed 2026-08-19; signing date unknown.

How this was checked

The organiser's own roster lists this person as a signer.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source