OpenAI has started pushing out its age-prediction technology across ChatGPT consumer accounts. In a post on Monday, the company said that for those under 18 who haven’t already told ChatGPT their age, its software will look at a person’s behavior and other signals, such as how long the account has existed and when they’re active, to estimate an age.
If you’re incorrectly identified as being underage, you can turn to technology from identity verification service Persona, OpenAI said. That requires a live selfie and a government-issued ID. A ChatGPT page that takes you directly to age verification is available.
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The new ChatGPT system, announced last September as part of broader changes for younger users, adds more guardrails to the AI chatbot, providing what OpenAI calls «safeguards to reduce exposure to sensitive or potentially harmful content.»
In a separate support page, the company describes in more detail how age prediction works in ChatGPT and what it filters out. That includes graphic violence or gore; depictions of self-harm; viral challenges «that could push risky or harmful behavior»; roleplaying that’s sexual, romantic or violent; or content that promotes extreme beauty standards, unhealthy dieting or body shaming.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against ChatGPT maker OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
OpenAI and other companies with AI technology have come under fire and are the subject of multiple lawsuits and investigations related to the deaths of teenagers who were engaging with chatbots, including ChatGPT. In the last year, OpenAI also announced it was adding additional parental controls to the platform.
Age verification and access restrictions based on age have become a theme more widely across online experiences, driven in part by laws proposed or enacted in various countries and US states. Earlier this month, the gaming platform Roblox instituted mandatory age checks. A new law in Australia imposes a sweeping ban on social media for children under 16.