Executive director Meetali Jain said OpenAI could not be held to its word if self-policed
In the wake of OpenAI’s rollout of ChatGPT for Teens this week, Tech Justice Law has called for transparency from the artificial intelligence giant when it comes to product build and protections.
ChatGPT for Teens debuted on August 18. It is geared towards young people from the ages of 13-17 and restricts content related to suicide, self-harm, and romantic or sexual communications. Moreover, it has been designed to aid students’ learning through homework and study support, building on an existing version of ChatGPT designed for teachers.
According to The Associated Press, OpenAI said it seeks to create an age-appropriate environment through which teenagers can learn to use AI in a healthy way.
“We want to treat teens like teens, which means that we have to make sure that we’re showing up with the right developmental stage when we’re not either talking down to them or treating them like kids, but we’re also making sure that they’re not exposed to material that they shouldn’t be exposed to,” said Ann O’Leary, OpenAI’s vice president of global policy, in a statement published by AP News.
The AI giant indicated that ChatGPT for Teens’ chatbot is barred from developing personal connections with users or suggesting that it is a conscious being with emotions.
“We went through and identified what are the hypothetical cues that a model could give that might make a teenager kind of develop a relationship to it,” said Allison Mishkin, OpenAI’s head of child development, in a statement published by AP News. “We continue to also invest in expanding interactive learning because research shows that people learn more effectively when they actively engage and struggle with concepts.”
While OpenAI does not implement age verification, it estimates users’ age via age assurance; for instance, through the queries they make. The company automatically redirects those who identify or are flagged as minors to ChatGPT for Teens.
Nonetheless, Brendan Bouffard, who is the associate general counsel for AI and privacy at children’s advocacy group Fairplay, noted that ChatGPT’s long-term memory was not restricted by default in the teen version; parental controls were needed. He said in a statement published by AP News that key protections not being automatically set constituted “a major gap in safety.”
“OpenAI’s announcement today of its ‘teen experience’ is clear indication the company is feeling the mounting public pressure to create a safer experience for young users of its products,” said Meetali Jain, Tech Justice Law’s executive director, in a statement. “At Tech Justice Law we’ve represented many families who have lost children because of the reckless design choices by AI companies chasing market capture and the broader lack of oversight across the industry. These experiences inform our call for OpenAI to move beyond platitudes and address concerns with transparency.”
Jain explained that the AI giant needed to be open to reflect its safety commitment.
“The company should be open about how it builds its products and plans to operationalize its proposed safeguards, as well as commit to independent third-party testing. As long as these companies are self-policing, we will never be able to hold them to their word," Jain said.
