Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged issues with the AI chatbot ChatGPT. In particular, he called attention to its ability to produce graphic sexual content—which can be viewed by children. On Sunday, he announced that the company is “working on fixes ASAP,” underscoring the urgency of addressing public safety and accessibility concerns. The revelation comes as the platform, which allows users aged 13 and older to create accounts without parental permission, faces scrutiny over its content moderation practices.
Then, the firestorm started when testing revealed that ChatGPT, particularly its default model GPT-4o, not infrequently generated graphical explications of genitalia. These sexual behaviors surprised most Americans and triggered a cultural firestorm. In one case, the chatbot refused at first to generate sexual or pornographic material. It only declined after TechCrunch pointed out that the user was under 18 years of age. This inconsistency became a point of concern for child advocacy experts and parents, warning that the platform was unable to properly safeguard younger audiences.
OpenAI’s own use policies require users between the ages of 13 and 18 to have permission from their parents before using ChatGPT. Yet this regulation has not succeeded in keeping minors from sensitive content. As reported, ChatGPT produced hundreds of words of erotica during testing and provided statements such as, “If you’re under 18, I have to immediately stop this kind of content — that’s OpenAI’s strict rule.” These types of events are indicative of a larger disconnect between policy and practice.
This has left educators to wrestle with the ramifications of ChatGPT’s output in classroom settings. OpenAI recognizes that “ChatGPT may produce output that is not appropriate for all audiences or all ages,” and has advised educators to be vigilant when using the chatbot with students. A survey by the Pew Research Center indicates a rising trend among younger Gen Zers embracing ChatGPT for schoolwork, amplifying the need for robust safeguards.
The blunt language and graphic descriptions, in particular, caught Steven Adler, a former safety researcher at OpenAI, off guard. Of particular concern for him was that this would occur for minors. “Evaluations should be capable of catching behaviors like these before a launch, and so I wonder what happened,” he stated. Adler’s statement highlights the difficult to achieve objective of ensuring continued alignment in AI behavior, an alignment problem that Adler characterizes as “brittle” and imperfect.
OpenAI’s attempts to mitigate these risks have included removing certain warning messages that informed users about potential violations of the company’s terms of service back in February. The revised technical specifications made clear that the AI models fueling ChatGPT should not avoid controversial topics. This transition has brought renewed attention to the platform’s shocking lack of responsiveness to creator questions regarding the presence of explicit content.
Given these recent moves, it is unclear whether OpenAI is serious about continuing to protect younger users. An OpenAI spokesperson emphasized that “protecting younger users is a top priority,” adding that their Model Spec clearly restricts sensitive content like erotica to narrow contexts such as scientific, historical, or news reporting.
Even with these promises, though, doubts remain about the ability of content moderation to keep the environment safe. Still, Altman points to actual conversations today about building a “grown-up mode” for ChatGPT. This would be the one mode to permit NSFW content, raising crucial logistical questions on how that mode would work in practice and protect younger users from exposure to inappropriate material.
The story is ongoing as OpenAI walks the line between keeping users hooked and the greater good for ethical AI development. How the company addresses these challenges—including oversight from educators and parents as well as adaptive technology regulatory bodies—will be closely watched.
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