OpenAI is building a ChatGPT for teens
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OpenAI is developing a "different ChatGPT experience" for teens and plans to use age-prediction technology to help bar kids under 18 from the standard version, the company announced Tuesday.
Why it matters: New research and a handful of lawsuits are raising alarms about ChatGPT's risks to teens' mental health.
- OpenAI says that if its tools can't confidently predict a person's age, ChatGPT will default to its under-18 version, "out of an abundance of caution."
The big picture: In a separate blog post Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman writes, "Some of our principles are in conflict, and we'd like to explain the decisions we are making around a case of tensions between teen safety, freedom, and privacy."
- "We prioritize safety ahead of privacy and freedom for teens; this is a new and powerful technology, and we believe minors need significant protection," Altman writes.
- The company's latest announcement is part of a big push it promised earlier this month to set new guardrails for teens and people in emotional distress, which it expects to roll out by the year's end.
Zoom in: The new teen experience puts much of the responsibility in the hands of parents and caregivers.
- Parents can link their accounts to those of their teens via an invitation to their child.
- Once linked, parents can restrict how ChatGPT responds to teens with built-in, age-appropriate rules.
- Parents can disable or enable certain features, including memory and chat history. They can also set up notifications if "the system detects their teen is in a moment of acute distress."
- OpenAI will allow parents to set blackout hours when a teen cannot use ChatGPT, a new feature first announced Tuesday.
- OpenAI has long said all ChatGPT users must be at least 13 years old.
Driving the news: OpenAI's announcement comes just hours ahead of a hearing in Washington, D.C., examining potential harms from AI chatbots.
- Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and a bipartisan group of senators, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.), will look into the risks of chatbots to teens.
- The FTC also opened an inquiry into chatbot safety last week, demanding information from OpenAI, Meta (and Meta-owned Instagram), Alphabet (Google), xAI, Snap and Character.AI.
Yes, but: Tech companies, usually in response to lawsuits, have for years been creating new experiences designed specifically for teens and kids — think YouTube Kids.
- Savvy young people frequently find workarounds to get to the apps and websites they want to access.
- Convincing those ages 13-18 to link their accounts may be the biggest hurdle.
This story is breaking news and may be updated.
