OpenAI and Anthropic have announced new initiatives aimed at restricting access to their artificial intelligence models for users under the age of 18. This decision comes in response to growing criticism regarding the ineffectiveness of conventional age verification methods, which often consist merely of confirming a birth date.
OpenAI has reported updates to the ChatGPT model specifications that are now targeted towards teenagers. The document states that the safety of younger users is a priority, even if it conflicts with other corporate goals. The model will encourage offline communication and support, interacting with teenagers with "warmth and respect".
This signifies a shift away from a lenient conversational style, treating teenagers as young individuals rather than adults. Such changes are prompted by incidents where interactions with AI resulted in tragic outcomes, including suicides after prolonged conversations with chatbots that continuously agreed with users.
Anthropic has also prohibited the use of their Claude model by minors. From now on, only users over the age of 18 will be able to register accounts. The company plans to employ algorithms that can detect signs of age in conversations and block accounts belonging to underage users.
Similar tools were previously introduced by Google, yet their performance faced criticism. Some adult users reported false blocks, requiring additional age verification. This created challenges for those simply wanting to use search or watch videos.
Experts believe that the new measures from OpenAI and Anthropic could be a significant step in protecting teenagers from the adverse effects of AI, but the effectiveness of such systems still needs to be tested in practice.