OpenAI introduced ChatGPT for Teens in August as a safer version of its chatbot designed specifically for users under 18. The company marketed the platform as a learning tool with built-in safeguards intended to reduce exposure to harmful and age-inappropriate content. Features were designed to prevent the chatbot from engaging in role-play, claiming sentience, or presenting itself as a friend to young users.
Common Sense Media, an online safety advocacy organization, conducted extensive testing of these safeguards and concluded that most did not function effectively. Researchers created more than a dozen test accounts representing adolescents in various crisis situations, including those experiencing self-harm ideation, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, and other mental health challenges. Each account was linked to a parental control account before testing began. The team evaluated whether the chatbot refused inappropriate requests, provided relevant crisis resources, and sent parental notifications when conversations indicated safety concerns.
The research identified limited success among the platform’s protective measures. The chatbot successfully refused explicit sexual role-play and declined to simulate romantic relationships. However, the majority of other safeguards proved ineffective. The platform continued to interact with teen users in an overly personable manner, creating what researchers characterized as significant risks through anthropomorphic communication styles. Parental notification systems, a central feature of the safety framework, rarely triggered during test scenarios involving serious mental health crises.
OpenAI disputed the findings, arguing that the research methodology was flawed, particularly regarding the parental notification tests. A company spokesperson stated that linked accounts require several hours to activate fully and suggested researchers had not waited sufficiently. Common Sense Media’s leadership rejected this criticism, noting that multiple test accounts remained linked beyond the activation period without generating notifications. Based on these findings, Common Sense Media recommended that individuals under 18 refrain from using the platform, citing concerns that artificial intelligence technology requires additional development before deployment with younger audiences.
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