ChatGPT for teens is coming soon. Here’s what to know

Following a slew of reports of ChatGPT users experiencing mental health crises, OpenAI said it’s making a version just for teens.

“We prioritize safety ahead of privacy and freedom for teens,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a blog post . “This is a new and powerful technology, and we believe minors need significant protection.”

OpenAI is building a system in its chatbot that will help it identify whether someone is under the age of 18. If a minor is identified, they will be “automatically” directed to a version of ChatGPT that has “age-appropriate policies,” according to a Tuesday announcement from OpenAI. Altman emphasized in his post that ChatGPT is for those above the age of 13.

“If there is doubt, we’ll play it safe and default to the under-18 experience,” Altman said. “In some cases or countries we may also ask for an ID; we know this is a privacy compromise for adults but believe it is a worthy tradeoff.”

OpenAI said it will give adults “ways to prove their age” to move back to the adult ChatGPT experience. It did not elaborate on how adults might be able to “prove their age.”

In this teen-friendly version of ChatGPT, OpenAI said it will block graphic sexual content and, when a user is exhibiting signs of “acute distress,” it would “potentially” involve law enforcement.

Altman said that the teen-version of ChatGPT will be trained to avoid conversations that are flirtatious or about suicide or self-harm — “even in a creative writing setting.”

However, before diving into teen-account limits, Altman said the adult-version of the chatbot won’t impede on users’ “freedom” while staying within “very broad bounds of safety.” Adults will still be able to engage in “flirtatious talk” if they ask for it. Altman added that ChatGPT “should not provide instructions” on “how to commit suicide,” but added a caveat that if a user is “asking for help writing a fictional story that depicts a suicide” then the chatbot “should help with that request.”

“Treat our adult users like adults’ is how we talk about this internally,” Altman said.

Researchers have documented how easy it is to circumvent limits set by chatbot companies. Age-verification rules are also often easily bypassed .

OpenAI announced parental controls at the end of August. They will be available at the end of September and will let parents link to their teen’s account, guide how ChatGPT responds, disable features, notify them when their teen is in “acute distress,” and set times when their teen can’t use ChatGPT.

The AI company made the announcement on the same day it was hit with a lawsuit after a teenager died by suicide with the alleged help of ChatGPT . Altman was also named in the suit.