OpenAI hopes to gain the trust of parents – and policymakers – by partnering with organizations working to minimize the harms of technology and media for children, teens and young adults.
In this regard, OpenAI today announced a partnership with Common Sense Media, the non-profit organization that reviews and ranks the appropriateness of various media and technology for children, to collaborate on AI guidelines and educational materials for parents, educators and young adults.
As part of the collaboration, OpenAI will work with Common Sense Media to curate “family-friendly” GPTs – chatbot applications powered by OpenAI’s GenAI models – on the GPT Store, OpenAI’s GPT marketplace, based on rating standards and evaluation of Common Sense, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says.
“Artificial intelligence offers incredible benefits for families and teens, and our partnership with Common Sense will further strengthen our safety work, ensuring that families and teens can use our tools with confidence,” Altman added in a canned statement.
The launch of the partnership comes after OpenAI said it would join Common Sense’s new framework, launched in September, for assessments and evaluations designed to assess the safety, transparency, ethical use and impact of AI products. The Common Sense framework aims to create a “nutritional label” for AI-powered apps, according to Common Sense co-founder and CEO James Steyer, to shed light on the contexts in which apps are used and highlight areas potential opportunities and pitfalls. a set of “common sense” principles.
The OpenAI logo appears on a smartphone screen in front of the computer screen with the ChatGPT logo.
In a press release, Steyer referred to the fact that today’s parents generally remain less informed about GenAI tools — for example, OpenAI’s AI-powered Viral ChatGPT — than younger generations. An Impact Research poll by Common Sense Media late last year found that 58% of students aged 12 to 18 have used ChatGPT compared to 30% of parents of school-aged children.
“Together, Common Sense and OpenAI will work to ensure that AI has a positive impact on all teens and families,” Steyer said in an emailed statement. “Our guides and curation will be designed to educate families and educators about the safe, responsible use of [OpenAI tools like] ChatGPT so we can collectively avoid any unintended consequences of this emerging technology.”
OpenAI is under pressure from regulators to show that its GenAI-powered applications, including ChatGPT, are an overall benefit to society — not harm. Just last summer, the US Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation into OpenAI into whether ChatGPT harmed consumers by collecting data and publishing false statements about individuals. European data authorities have also expressed concern about OpenAI’s handling of private information.
OpenAI tools, like all GenAI tools, tend to overthink things and get the basics wrong. And they are biased – a reflection of the data used to train them.
Children and teenagers, aware of the limitations of the tools or not, are increasingly turning to them for help not only with schoolwork but also with personal matters. According to a voting from the Center for Democracy and Technology, 29% of kids report using ChatGPT to deal with stress or mental health issues, 22% for issues with friends, and 16% for family conflicts.
