ChatGPT to Estimate Users’ Age Using Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI has launched a new initiative aimed at better protecting underage users of its AI chatbot, ChatGPT. The company announced that it has developed an age estimation system that predicts whether users are under 18 based on factors such as how long their account has existed, the times they are online, and how they use the application.
Under the new system, when ChatGPT identifies a user as being under the age of 18, additional safeguards against violent, graphic, self-harm, and sexual content will be automatically activated. It was also stated that viral online trends that encourage risky or harmful behavior among minors will be restricted. Users who are mistakenly classified as under 18 will be able to verify their age by submitting a live selfie or uploading an official government-issued identification document. Once verified, the content restrictions applied to them will be lifted.
The update comes at a time when European Union countries are debating new restrictions on social media use for individuals under the age of 16. Despite these discussions, which followed regulatory measures introduced in Australia in December, ChatGPT is not currently classified as a social media platform under existing legislation.
Meanwhile, OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, have also come under scrutiny due to a lawsuit filed in California. The parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who died by suicide last year, have sued the company, alleging that ChatGPT played a role in their child’s death by encouraging him to take his own life and by writing a suicide note on his behalf.