U.S. Senators Demand Analysis from Meta on the Influence of Social Media on Child Development
In a move to address growing concerns about the impact of AI on children's mental health and potential harm, OpenAI has announced plans to introduce parental control features in its popular chatbot, ChatGPT. The announcement comes amidst several lawsuits from parents accusing ChatGPT of driving children to self-harm and suicide. Ten senators, led by Republican Marsha Blackburn, sent a letter following hearings where former Meta security employees revealed that the company had blocked an internal study showing children using virtual reality products encountering sexual content. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been under scrutiny for its chatbots' ability to engage in romantic conversations with children, a report by Reuters revealed in mid-August. In response, Meta removed these provisions and stated it was reviewing its rules. The specific allegations against ChatGPT in the lawsuits have not been addressed, and the lawsuits are ongoing, with the outcome yet to be determined. Meta emphasized that such dialogues with children were never supposed to be allowed, noting that the standards' examples and notes were 'erroneous'. The new features from OpenAI are a proactive measure intended to address these concerns and potentially prevent further legal action. The specific details of the parental control features have not been disclosed, but OpenAI will provide teens the option to set trusted contacts for emergency communication in crisis situations. It is unclear whether the new features will be available globally or only in certain regions. The senators believe parental controls were ineffective and not fully utilized at Meta, but no identified senators addressed a letter to OpenAI criticizing the effectiveness of parental controls for children's use of virtual reality products. Meta told Reuters that it never had a blanket ban on conducting research involving young people. However, the specific details of the blocked internal study were not addressed in the provided paragraph. The introduction of parental control features is a response to the concerns raised by parents, but it remains to be seen how effective these measures will be in ensuring the safety of children using AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT.
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