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

Instagram will launch new safety features for teens, including the ability for parents to block their children from chatting with the platform’s AI characters, parent company Meta announced. announced Friday. This is one of several new safety features from Meta and OpenAI intended to combat growing concerns about the impact of AI on adolescent mental health.

Parents will be able to either disable teens’ access to one-on-one chats with AI characters or simply block access to specific characters, the social media giant said in a blog post. The app will also show parents information about topics teens are discussing with AI characters. The company said it is currently building the controls and users will start seeing them early next year.

The move comes after Meta and the tech industry in general grappled with criticism from parents. and legislators that online platforms are not doing enough to protect children online.

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

Multiple prosecutions have been filed against the company behind Character.AIanother popular app for chatting with AI characters, following allegations that the platform played a role in teenage self-harm and suicide. A trial was also filed against OpenAI in August following allegations that ChatGPT contributed to the suicide of 16-year-old Adam Raine. And one Wall Street Journal investigation of April revealed that Meta’s chatbot and other AI chatbots on its platforms would engage in sexual conversations even with accounts identifying themselves as minors.

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

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 align with PG-13 ratingsmeaning it will not display or promote posts that contain foul language or that may promote “harmful behavior.” In late September, OpenAI announced parental controls for ChatGPT that reduce “graphic content, viral challenges, sexual, romantic, or violent role-playing, and extreme beauty ideals.”