OpenAI launches a safer ChatGPT for teens — years after teens started using it

After numerous lawsuits over AI chatbots’ lack of safety measures, leading to teens’ suicides and other mental health concerns, OpenAI on Monday announced the launch of ChatGPT for Teens. The new product promises to include additional safety measures, as well as the educational crisis of ChatGPT-assisted cheating in schools.

On the educational side, ChatGPT for Teens introduces a new Study Mode feature and other tools designed to encourage teen users to engage their curiosity and work through problems, not just get quick answers.

As OpenAI explains in a blog post, the Study Mode option will give teens guiding questions and step-by-step support to help them understand the material. Meanwhile, the teen experience will also include homework reminders that appear when a teen appears to be trying to cheat, instead of understanding the material. The AI chatbot will then push the teen to use Study Mode instead.

The app will also support quizzes and learning visualizations, and controls that allow parents or guardians to decide when Study Mode is enabled by default, the company says.

Still, it’s not clear how difficult it will be for teens to escape these new systems if they decide not to cooperate. Teens are incredibly adept at working around parental controls and other attempts to lock down digital experiences. Until ChatGPT’s teen mode can be put to more strenuous tests, it’s unclear how difficult it will be to work around these safety measures in reality.