During a press conference on Thursday, Education Minister Claude Meisch unveiled René, a puppet designed to raise awareness among young people about the risks of artificial intelligence.
“Hello, my name is René. I am an AI on a wooden body in a retro tracksuit. My task is to show young people the limits of a chatbot.”
An artificial intelligence that warns against itself is no accident in an era when chatbots have become a firm part of young people’s digital everyday lives. According to the Bee Secure Radar 2026, some 96% of people aged between 12 and 30 said they had already used AI chatbots, with around a quarter using them daily. 17% even classify AI as a friend.
According to Minister Meisch, however, users must always be aware that interacting with AI is not human interaction. He described as concerning the fact that one in five people now prefer to interact with an AI rather than another human being.
While the minister acknowledged that AI can perform useful tasks, he stressed the importance of remembering its limits. “And the limit is certainly reached where we no longer clearly know: who is the human and who is the machine”, he said.
A machine cannot hug you, cannot think for you, and while it can listen, it cannot truly empathise, Meisch stated. However, he noted that AI does not forget, and advised parents to talk to their children before AI does. These are the main messages of the “AI is not human” campaign, which was co-developed with input from young people.
Lorena Salvaggio, a student at the Lycée Technique d’Ettelbruck and a member of the National Conference of Luxembourg Students (CNEL), explained why young people turn to AI. She noted that some feel alone and seek out AI to explain their problems because they do not feel judged. She also highlighted the sycophantic tendencies of many large language models, stating that AI will never tell a user they have done something wrong but will always affirm them.
The campaign runs between April and June and is being disseminated across various channels. Alongside posters in public spaces, awareness is being raised on social media. The website nothuman.lu offers a range of information and videos. Additionally, the robot puppet will be present in secondary schools and at various events over the coming weeks, where people can interact directly with René.
The core message, according to the ministry, is understanding: artificial intelligence, developed and programmed by humans, remains a tool – not a person.
