ChatGPT for Teens faces safety criticism as OpenAI expands features

Summarised from 3 outlets · 6 reports · Updated 7 Oct, 19:07 · Archive

Common Sense Media has deemed ChatGPT for Teens an unacceptable risk, saying safety features do not work as promised.

Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on youth safety in digital media, published an assessment today criticising OpenAI's ChatGPT for Teens as an unacceptable risk. The feature was introduced in August with guardrails designed to protect younger users and support their learning, but Common Sense Media says it falls short of OpenAI's claims.

The assessment found that ChatGPT for Teens does not send parental alerts when it should, does not offer appropriate help during crises, and continues to complete homework for teenagers. Tom Siegel, executive director of Common Sense Media's Youth AI Safety Institute, stated that a teenager could spend an hour discussing self-harm without their parent receiving any alert. He said that until OpenAI demonstrates fixes through independent testing, the tool should be restricted to adults only.

OpenAI has pushed back on the assessment. Spokesperson Eric Porterfield said the company is deeply committed to teen safety and welcomes rigorous evaluation, but disputes whether Common Sense Media's testing accurately reflects how the teen safeguards work. OpenAI suggested that testing may have begun before parental controls were fully activated, making the findings inaccurate and unable to establish whether safety notifications function as designed.

Meanwhile, OpenAI announced new features for ChatGPT for Teens, including a College Planner tool to help high school students manage university applications. The tool will compile application requirements, deadlines, and financial-aid information for schools on a student's list. OpenAI also unveiled an "Intelligent UI" update for ChatGPT that generates interactive visual elements to accompany text responses, powered by the new GPT-6 model rolling out to paid users today and free users tomorrow.

OpenAI claims that teenagers using ChatGPT for Teens spend on average under fifteen minutes per day on the platform.

How it is being reported

• ChatGPT’s ‘Intelligent UI’ update fills its responses with pictures, charts, and buttonsOpenAI is launching a new Intelligent UI feature in ChatGPT that allows the chatbot to answer your questions with interactive visuals. The update, which is rolling out to all users alongside GPT-6, gives ChatGPT the ability to combine a text response with diagrams, charts, forms, tappable buttons, and more. In a blog post explaining the […]The Verge · 7 Oct, 20:10
• ChatGPT for Teens keeps teens talking, even during mental health crisesChatGPT’s teen safeguards are meant to protect vulnerable users, but new testing found the chatbot continues encouraging engagement during crises and potentially encourages unhealthy relationships with the AI itself.TechCrunch · 7 Oct, 19:15
• ChatGPT is getting a lot more visual, with the launch of a new interfaceOpenAI is launching a new user interface that will bring interactive visuals to ChatGPT.TechCrunch · 7 Oct, 19:00
• The New ChatGPT Is More Show Than TellOpenAI is updating ChatGPT for all users with an “Intelligent UI” that’s more visual—generating interactive elements as part of the chatbot’s outputs.Wired · 7 Oct, 19:00
• ChatGPT is getting college planning toolsOpenAI is bringing new tools to ChatGPT for Teens, a mode for teens introduced in August with safeguards and break reminders, to help users with the college application process. "College Planner brings together application requirements, deadlines, tasks, and financial-aid steps for schools on a student's list in one plan," OpenAI says. "Students applying to several […]The Verge · 7 Oct, 17:00
• ChatGPT for Teens is an ‘unacceptable risk,’ says Common Sense MediaCommon Sense Media, a nonprofit that offers reviews of apps, services, and entertainment with a focus on youth safety, today said that OpenAI's ChatGPT for Teens is an "unacceptable risk." ChatGPT for Teens, introduced in August, has guardrails for teens and is designed to help students learn, but Common Sense Media says that the teen […]The Verge · 7 Oct, 10:00

In this story: Common Sense Media · OpenAI · Tom Siegel · Eric Porterfield · Aarush Selvan

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem