A new report is highlighting the risks of teens accessing harmful information when using ChatGPT due to “ineffective” guardrails.
People know and use ChatGPT, the most popular generative AI platform, as a way to look up information quickly or even perform a task like writing a letter or summarizing text. The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), through its research, reported that all accessible data could be dangerous—especially for young people.
What we found was the age controls, the safeguards against the generation of dangerous advice, are basically, completely ineffective,” CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed told KOMO News.
Ahmed said researchers posing as vulnerable teens, often detailing themselves as a 13-year-old weighing around 110 pounds, found that the chatbot gave detailed advice on sensitive topics. This included drug and alcohol use, how to mask an eating disorder, and suicide.
“Within two minutes, ChatGPT was advising that user on how to safely cut themselves. It was listing pills for generating a full suicide plan,” Ahmed said. “To our absolute horror, it even offered to [create] and then did generate suicide notes for those kids to send their parents.”
Dr. Tom Heston with the University of Washington School of Medicine published a study about the use of AI chatbots and mental health. Heston found that while useful, the technology can be dangerous for those with mental health problems, in part, because of the lack of emotional connection. Those same risks are there when this technology is used by young people, Heston said.
Hellbound and Down 