OpenAI introduces ChatGPT for Teens with enhanced safety features

OpenAI announced the rollout of a new ChatGPT variant specifically designed for teenagers aged 13 to 17. The service, which went live on Tuesday, incorporates tighter safeguards around topics such as suicide, self-harm and sexual content, and is intended to support homework and study without simply providing ready-made answers.

The company said the teen-focused model aims to promote healthy AI usage while respecting the developmental stage of its users. > "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.

Parents who link their accounts to a teen profile can set "quiet hours" that block access and receive safety alerts in high-risk situations, such as potential self-harm. OpenAI also said it is adding notifications related to eating disorders while limiting the information shared in those moments.

The chatbot is programmed to avoid suggesting it has personal feelings or consciousness, a measure intended to reduce the risk of users forming emotional attachments. > "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, head of child development at OpenAI.

Age verification relies on an estimation system that flags users who appear to be under 18 based on their queries; identified minors are automatically placed in the teen version. Parental controls require opt-in from both the teen and a guardian, though OpenAI says the platform is designed to be safe even without those controls.

OpenAI already offers a version of ChatGPT for educators, and the teen model expands its portfolio of tools aimed at schools and younger users.