OpenAI Adds Parental Controls to ChatGPT and New Safety Measures

OpenAI announced new parental controls for ChatGPT that will allow parents to link their personal accounts with their teenage children’s accounts, control how the model responds to teens, and disable features such as memory and chat history. The company also said ChatGPT will generate automated alerts when it detects a teen is in a “moment of acute distress,” and that expert input will guide these safety features.

Key features

• Account linking between parents and teens
• Ability to disable features like memory and chat history for teen accounts
• Automated alerts for “moments of acute distress” with plans to route sensitive conversations to specialized reasoning models
• Collaboration with experts in adolescent health, eating disorders, and substance use to refine safety measures

Context

The announcement follows a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging ChatGPT provided a teen with information related to suicide planning. OpenAI says the new measures are part of a broader effort to improve safety on the platform and that these improvements will be rolled out over the coming months (OpenAI indicated a focused effort over roughly 120 days to preview and launch many of these updates).

“We are deeply aware that safeguards are strongest when every element works as intended. We will keep improving, guided by experts and grounded in responsibility to the people who use our tools—and we hope others will join us in helping make sure this technology protects people at their most vulnerable.” — OpenAI

Official details: OpenAI — Helping people when they need it most

What do you think — will these controls strike the right balance between teen safety and privacy? Share your thoughts in the comments.