OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, announced on Tuesday it plans to introduce parental controls for its popular AI search function “within the next month,” after it and other AI chatbots allegedly have contributed to suicide among teenagers.
ChatGPT’s controls are expected to include the option for parents to link their account with their children’s account, manage how ChatGPT responds to teen users, disable features such as memory and chat history and receive notifications when the system detects “a moment of acute distress” during use.
The company noted that its chatbots will redirect the most distressing conversations to more capable AI models that can provide a better response, regardless of a user's age.
“If someone expresses suicidal intent, ChatGPT is trained to direct people to seek professional help," OpenAI wrote in a blog post.
“Even with these safeguards, there have been moments when our systems did not behave as intended in sensitive situations.”
OpenAI’s announcement comes a week after the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine sued OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT coached the California teen in planning and taking his own life.
Facebook parent company Meta also announced it is now blocking its chatbots from talking with teens about self-harm, suicide, disordered eating and inappropriate romantic conversations, and instead directs them to expert resources.