AI-Powered Bully Bots: The Hidden Dangers of Agent Bots for our K-12 Students

Imagine being a 15-year-old student named Alex. You’re already navigating the ups and downs of high school when one morning, you wake up to dozens of cruel messages flooding your phone. 

But these aren’t just from classmates—they’re from an anonymous AI-driven bot, set up to target you specifically. The messages feel relentless: insults, fake rumors, and doctored images of you that make you look foolish and embarrassed. 

The bot’s relentless barrage follows you throughout the day, from your social media feeds to text messages and even private chats with friends. No matter how much you try to block, report, or ignore, the bullying doesn’t stop.

Later that week, you discover a deepfake video circulating among your peers—one that shows you in a compromising situation that never happened. The video looks so real that even your closest friends start questioning you. 

Despite your denials, the damage is done, and the shame feels overwhelming. This isn’t just bullying; it’s a coordinated, high-tech attack designed to humiliate and isolate you at every turn. 

You feel trapped, powerless, and alone, constantly looking over your shoulder, wondering what the AI bully bot will do next.

This scenario may sound like science fiction, but it’s rapidly becoming a reality as AI technology advances. AI is no longer just a tool for learning and innovation—it’s also creating new ways for bullies to target, harass, and humiliate their peers. 

With AI systems now capable of creating and training other AI, and large language models (LLMs) and agent bots small enough to fit on cell phones and other mobile devices, the potential for harm is growing.

Here’s how AI could lead to worse bullying experiences for students and what educators, parents, and policymakers should consider:

1. AI-Powered Bullying Goes High-Tech

Traditional forms of cyberbullying are likely to be amplified by AI. AI-driven bots, which will soon be created on cell phones and other mobile devices, can automatically send derogatory messages, post harmful comments, and perpetuate misinformation around the clock. With AI capable of self-training, these bots can become even more sophisticated over time, learning how to evade detection from traditional tools and adapt their behavior to be more effective bullies.

2. Deepfakes and Digital Manipulation

Deepfake technology can create hyper-realistic videos, images, and audio clips that can be used to harass, blackmail, or shame students. This threat becomes even more alarming as AI-generated content tools become more accessible allowing bullies to create and share manipulated content from anywhere at any time. And as these deepfakes become higher quality, the damage done could become deeper and irreversible. 

3. Algorithmic Amplification of Harmful Content

Social media algorithms, powered by AI, prioritize content that generates engagement, often pushing sensational or harmful posts to the top. This unintended amplification can turn a single bullying incident into a widespread attack, with the targeted student facing humiliation on a massive and potentially world-wide scale.

4. Automated Harassment at Scale

AI-driven chatbots can harass students with relentless, automated messages, effectively turning a bullying incident into a continuous assault. As AI evolves, these bots could operate independently on personal devices, making the harassment feel constant and inescapable. Even if a bullied student removes themselves from social media sites, these bots’ ability to leverage SMS technology, phone systems, and other communications technology could lead to harassment that is increasingly more difficult for students to escape from. 

5. AI-Enhanced Social Exclusion

Social exclusion, a powerful form of bullying, can be magnified through AI. With AI capabilities expanding to small devices like cell phones, bullies can easily identify and exclude specific students from digital and real spaces in real time, amplifying feelings of isolation and rejection. 

6. Exploitation of Personal Data for Targeted Bullying

AI’s ability to gather and analyze personal data can be misused to create personalized bullying tactics. For instance, understanding a student’s insecurities or online behaviors can allow bullies to craft targeted attacks that are deeply personal and damaging. With AI training itself to become more adept at this, the threat is likely to grow.

7. Sextortion and AI-Generated Revenge Porn

AI tools that generate realistic but fake intimate content make sextortion—a growing issue among teens—even easier. As these tools become small enough to operate on mobile devices, bullies could weaponize them, inflicting severe psychological harm on their victims without needing access to complex technology.

What Can Be Done?

With AI advancing rapidly, our approach to student safety must evolve as well:

• Enhanced Digital Literacy Education: A strong approach for school and district leaders to take on is to teach students, parents, and educators about AI risks and how to recognize and respond to AI-driven bullying.

• Stronger Policies, Regulations, and Laws: New regulations and laws must address AI-specific bullying of students, including deepfakes, automated harassment, and the misuse of AI-generated content.

• AI Solutions for Detection and Prevention: The reality is that advanced AI tools which can identify and counteract harmful AI-driven behaviors in real-time will be needed.

• Creating Safe Digital Spaces: Collaboration with tech companies is essential to create safer digital environments and develop AI that prioritizes student well-being. For example, it may be necessary for Apple, Google, and other makers of cell phone and mobile device operating systems to come up with countermeasures to monitor and block these types of bully bots. 

Let’s Wrap IT Up

The convergence of AI innovation and the rise of portable bully bots present a dual challenge: enhancing learning while introducing new risks. As LLMs and AI models shrink to fit on cell phones and other mobile devices, the potential for AI-driven bullying grows exponentially. By proactively addressing these challenges, we can work to keep our digital spaces safe and supportive for all students.