Instagram will soon let parents stop teens from chatting with AI characters

By Lisa Eadicicco, CNN

(CNN) — Instagram will launch new safety features for teens, including the ability for parents to prevent their kids from chatting with the platform’s AI characters, parent-company Meta announced Friday. It’s one of several new safety features from Meta and OpenAI meant to combat growing concerns about how AI could impact teens’ mental health.

Parents will be able to either turn off teens’ access to individual chats with AI characters or just block access to specific characters, the social media giant said in a blog post. The app will also show parents information about the topics teens are discussing with AI characters. The company said it’s building the controls now and users will start seeing them early next year.

The move comes after Meta and the tech industry more broadly have grappled with criticisms from parents and lawmakers that online platforms aren’t doing enough to protect children online.

Concerns have also been raised about whether people are relying on AI for emotional support and companionship. A wave of reports this year have indicated that some people have endured emotional distress and isolated themselves from family members after developing close relationships with chatbots like ChatGPT.

Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the company behind Character.AI, another popular app for chatting with AI personas, over allegations that the platform played a role in self-harm and suicide in teens. A lawsuit was also filed against OpenAI in August over allegations that ChatGPT contributed to the suicide of 16-year-old Adam Raine. And a Wall Street Journal investigation from April found that Meta’s chatbot and other AI chatbots on its platforms would engage in sexual conversations even with accounts identifying as minors.

Meta said its AI characters “are designed not to engage” in conversations with teens about “self-harm, suicide, or disordered eating” or topics that “encourage, promote or enable” those subjects. Teens are also only able to chat with certain AI characters related to content like education and sports, the blog post said.

Instagram’s new parental controls follow other updates the company has recently made to better protect teens. Earlier this week it adjusted its “Teen Accounts” settings to line up with PG-13 ratings, meaning it won’t show or promote posts featuring strong language or those that could promote “harmful behaviors.” In late September, OpenAI announced parental controls for ChatGPT that reduce “graphic content, viral challenges, sexual, romantic or violent roleplay, and extreme beauty ideals.”

The-CNN-Wire
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