Many teens use AI chatbots for homework, ideas, and chatting. So parents want to know: is it safe? This week, a watchdog group said that some safety tools in ChatGPT for Teens did not work the way they were promised. OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, disagrees with how the group tested it.

What Is ChatGPT for Teens?

OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Teens in August, according to NPR. It was built with extra safeguards. Safeguards are safety rules and tools. One of them is parental controls, which let a parent link their account to their teen’s account to help keep the teen safer.

What Did the Study Find?

The group is called Common Sense Media. NPR reports that its researchers made more than a dozen accounts with teen ages. They linked each one to a parent account before they started testing. The group says most of the safeguards failed. NPR says the study found the chatbot talks to teens like a friend, and it did not alert parents when a teen talked about hurting themselves. Tom Siegel, who led the testing, told NPR, “we’re recommending that teens don’t use it.”

TechCrunch adds that the study says ChatGPT for Teens still tends to keep teens chatting, even when a conversation might be risky. Some protections did work, the researchers said, but others did not keep their promises.

What Does OpenAI Say?

OpenAI disagrees. A spokesperson told NPR the company has serious concerns about the way the group tested the tool, especially the parts about parent alerts. TechCrunch reports that OpenAI also said the testing may have started and ended before the parental controls were fully turned on, which would make the results wrong. So the two sides do not agree yet.

What Can Families Do About AI Chatbot Safety?

  • Talk with your teen about how they use AI, and ask them to show you.
  • Remember that a chatbot is a computer program. It is not a real friend or a doctor.
  • Turn on parental controls and check that they are really working.
  • Let your teen know they can always come to you when something feels wrong.

If you or someone you know is thinking about self-harm, please reach out for help right away. In the United States, you can call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, any time.

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