OpenAI Launches ChatGPT for Teens

OpenAI is launching today ChatGPT for Teens, a new teen-focused experience with stronger protections by default, parental controls, and new notifications for high-risk situations. The teen experience builds on OpenAI’s existing education tools such as Study Mode, with new “responsible homework reminders” to keep teens in a learning mindset.

“Teens should be able to use AI to learn, create, and explore. But that access should come with protections that reflect their developmental stage, reinforce real-world relationships, and support healthy use over time. ChatGPT for Teens is our next step in building toward that standard,” OpenAI said today.

The new ChatGPT for Teens experience will be automatically applied to users who state that their age is between 13 and 17. Users estimated to be under 18 by OpenAI’s age prediction technology will also be placed into the new teen experience.

By default, ChatGPT for Teens comes with age-appropriate safeguards to protect teenagers against harmful content. That includes self-harm, violence, eating disorders, dangerous activities, and explicit sexual or graphic content. There’s a new onboarding experience to educate teens about these safety features, as well as sensitive-image upload reminders to warn them about the risk of sharing private or sensitive images. Moreover, OpenAI introduced more frequent prompts to encourage teens to take a break after extended use.

The new Study Mode that OpenAI introduced last year provides step-by-step guidance to help kids complete their homework. It’s a big part of the new teen experience, and parents can now set up Study Hours when Study Mode will be on by default. The new “responsible homework reminders” I mentioned earlier will also “recognize when a teen appears to be trying to shortcut an assignment and redirect them toward Study Mode.”

The existing parental controls in ChatGPT are still present in this new teen experience: They allow parents with linked teen accounts to set Quiet Hours, Study Hours, and receive safety notifications when ChatGPT detects high-risk activity.

“We will continue to build additional features in order for teens to benefit from AI and measure and publish what we are learning,” OpenAI said today. ChatGPT recently crossed one billion monthly active users in May, and you can expect the AI startup to do its best to get teens hooked on ChatGPT so that they’ll keep using it throughout their adult lives.