ChatGPT wants teens to agree to let their parents spy on them

OpenAI says it is introducing parental controls to ChatGPT that will help improve the safety of teenagers using its AI chatbot. The only catch? Teens will have to allow their parents to connect to their accounts before the controls can take effect. The new protections are designed to help ChatGPT identify when a teenager …

[SnailFerrous]

Codswallop

“In instances where we’re unsure of a user’s age, we’ll take the safer route and apply teen settings proactively,”

For a teen without the parental controls set, the trick will be to sound like an ancient. The easiest way to do so is to use words common in past decades, that have now largely gone out of use. My sister and I were recently discussing this very thing and we agreed to revive the word codswallop in conversation whenever possible.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Codswallop

"trick will be to sound like an ancient"

Forsooth thou hast wit.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Codswallop

"revive the word codswallop in conversation whenever possible."

In the quagmire of skulduggery and shenanigans that characterises our contemporary world the opportunities should be endless. :)

[Snake]

Re: Codswallop

I don't believe you need to go that far - just mention "Mrs. Slocum's cat" as a metaphor for [something else], or "Archie Bunker" as a metaphor for "typical American" (some things never change) in a sentence, and that will certainly peg your age!

[Dan 55]

Privacy campaigners are likely to raise concerns that ChatGPT’s parental controls enable parents to snoop on their children

AKA parenting?

[MachDiamond]

One for me, one for you

It will be handy to have two accounts run from two devices. One will be very prim and proper and the other will be for more dodgy applications. Simply use another account to ask how to circumvent online age restrictions.

When I had a manufacturing business, I had two cars. One I used all of the time and the other was a cheap POS I could declare as my personal vehicle while writing off 100% of the "company" car's expenses.

[E 2]

Better than the teens spying on the parents.

[Anonymous Coward]

where we’re unsure of a user’s age, we’ll ... apply teen settings proactively,

I can envisage legions of semiliterate over 18s being fed "curated" pre 18 pap.

It might work when a semi-senile 80 year old is fed teletubby content but slightly humerous if the geriatric's queries were about arranging a quicker exit — Is OpenAI's "small team of specially trained people” going to inform his or her parents ?

The special training presumably would then include mediumship and seances,

AI enhanced necromancy is in all probability already on Altman's whiteboard of seriously daft ideas.

[Rich 2]

Use case?

I’m intrigued. What are all these teens using ChatGPT for?

I can understand trying it to see what it does. But after that 5 minute novelty window has passed, what are they using it for?

[Alister]

If a teen is asking an AI for life advice, they are not likely to be wanting parental interference as they obviously don't feel able to raise the issue with the family. They certainly won't be asking the AI those questions if they know beforehand that it's going to snitch to mummy or daddy.