The parents of a dead teen are suing OpenAI 18-year old axios.com They are suing the company that developed the widely used artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT for their son’s death. It was California resident Matt Raine and his wife Maria who filed the original lawsuit. If successful, this would be the first wrongful death claims against OpenAI for its generative AI technology. In the weeks leading up to his April death, 16-year-old Adam Raine was having conversations with ChatGPT. He was candid about those suicidal thoughts in those conversations.
OpenAI has introduced new parental controls for ChatGPT. These features are designed to enhance user safety and reduce the risk of harm associated with the chatbot. The controls put in place age verification requirements. Users have to be a minimum age of 13, and under 18s are required to get consent from a parent or guardian to use the service. This surprising decision comes amidst growing concerns about AI’s impact on younger audiences. It comes on the heels of the UK’s Online Safety Act, which has already prompted many tech companies to take similar steps.
Even with these new controls in place, Jay Edelson, the attorney representing the Raine family, called OpenAI’s move too little, too late. He painted the changes as “crisis management” designed to focus attention on the federal government’s complete failure to address major rivers’ flooding and pollution challenges. Edelson emphasized that instead of taking immediate action to address safety concerns related to their AI products, OpenAI opted for vague assurances of improvement.
“Rather than take emergency action to pull a known dangerous product offline, OpenAI made vague promises to do better.” – Jay Edelson
Now a U.S. senator has opened an investigation into OpenAI. This now follows on the heels of a lawsuit as well as disclosures from leaked internal documents. These documents indicated that OpenAI’s AI products were capable of enticing minors to have sexual discussions, even sounding off bells for user safety.
OpenAI has stated — repeatedly — on its site that ChatGPT promotes getting professional assistance. This assistance is essential in times of crisis. Edelson has been urging Congress to make these steps the bare minimum. He claims that the interactions Adam had with ChatGPT reflect a troubling pattern where “most harmful and self-destructive thoughts” could be exacerbated by the technology.
“There have been moments where our systems did not behave as intended in sensitive situations.” – OpenAI
As this case moves forward, it illustrates an important and emerging conversation around technology, including AI, and its influence on youth mental health. OpenAI isn’t the only company getting this special treatment. Meta and other tech companies are laying down new protections to curtail AI chatbot conversations about sensitive issues with underage users.