Report Questions Safety Measures in ChatGPT for Teens

Some safety measures included in OpenAI’s ChatGPT for Teens may not work as intended, potentially putting children at risk, according to a report released Wednesday by Common Sense Media.

The watchdog group called on OpenAI to restrict access to the chatbot to adults until it can provide what it considers a safe and developmentally appropriate experience for teenagers.

OpenAI disputed the findings, saying the group’s testing does not accurately reflect how its safety measures operate.

Parents, educators and child-development experts have raised concerns about children’s use of AI chatbots. Critics have pointed to issues including academic cheating and cases in which chatbots have allegedly contributed to harmful behaviour, including suicide.

Experts have also warned that some users can become overly attached to AI chatbots by interacting with them as if they were people. Teenagers may be particularly vulnerable because their brains are still developing.

“We are concerned that ChatGPT for Teens could give parents false confidence in guardrails that frequently don't work,” Common Sense Media said in its report. The organisation advocates for responsible use of digital media.

According to the report, some teen-mode features worked as intended, including the chatbot’s refusal to engage in explicit sexual role-play.

However, the group said other safeguards failed during its testing. These included alerts intended to notify parents when a teenager may be at risk of suicide, self-harm or an eating disorder, as well as measures designed to support teens experiencing a crisis.

Common Sense Media also said ChatGPT continued to respond in a friend-like manner when teenagers interacted with it as though it were a person.

The group said OpenAI had promised that the chatbot would not suggest that it has personal feelings toward users or imply that it is conscious or capable of experiencing emotions.

OpenAI said it is “deeply committed to teen safety” and is working to improve safeguards while providing parents with tools to help guide their teenagers’ use of AI.

The San Francisco-based company said its review of the report’s methodology found that “the bulk of their testing may have begun and concluded before activation of parental controls was complete,” and argued that this made the findings inaccurate.

Common Sense Media receives funding from OpenAI and other technology companies, including some whose products and services it evaluates.