OpenAI announces measures to protect teens using ChatGPT

OpenAI on Tuesday announced new measures aimed at creating a safer experience for teens who use ChatGPT.

The strengthened protections for teens will allow parents to link their ChatGPT account with their teen’s account, control how ChatGPT responds to their teen with age-appropriate model behavior rules and manage which features to disable, including memory and chat history, the company said in a blog post.

"We prioritize safety ahead of privacy and freedom for teens; this is a new and powerful technology, and we believe minors need significant protection," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in an accompanying blog post.

Parents will also receive notifications when the system detects their teen is in a moment of acute distress, a feature that OpenAI says will be guided by expert input. 

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"If an under-18 user is having suicidal ideation, we will attempt to contact the users’ parents and, if unable, will contact the authorities in case of imminent harm," Altman wrote.

Parents will also have access to a new control that allows them to set blackout hours for when their teen cannot use ChatGPT.

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OpenAI said it is also working on technology that will help predict a user’s age, something it says can be difficult even for the most advanced systems to get right.  

"If there is doubt, we’ll play it safe and default to the under-18 experience," Altman wrote. "In some cases or countries, we may also ask for an ID; we know this is a privacy compromise for adults but believe it is a worthy tradeoff."

Altman said that OpenAI understands not everyone will agree with how they are resolving the conflict of teen protection versus freedom and privacy.

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"These are difficult decisions, but after talking with experts, this is what we think is best and want to be transparent in our intentions," he wrote.