The meta is “temporarily pausing” the ability for teens to chat with AI characters while it develops a “new version” of the character that will provide a “better experience.” The company announced this in an updated blog post from October where the company has detailed parental controls for teenagers’ utilize of AI. The change preventing teenagers from accessing characters will go into effect “in the coming weeks.”
“Since we announced our plans to create parental controls for AI characters in October, we have begun to develop a new version of AI characters overall (i.e. for both adults and teens),” says spokeswoman Sophie Vogel Edge. “Instead of creating parental controls twice (for current AI characters and the new iteration of AI characters), we are pausing teens’ access to the current version while focusing on the new iteration. When this new iteration is available to teens, it will come with parental controls.”
According to Down TechCrunch“Meta said it heard from parents that they wanted more insight and control over their teens’ interactions with AI characters, so it decided to make these changes.”
In October, Meta announced that parents would be able to block teens’ access to one-on-one conversations with AI characters, block teens from talking to specific AI characters, and share insights with parents on topics their teens discussed with Meta’s AI characters and its AI assistant. The original plan was to introduce character blocking controls earlier this year. But in Friday’s announcement, Meta says it’s still working on how to share insights with parents about the conversations their teens are having with Meta’s AI assistant. This feature “will be available soon,” Vogel says.
Last year, also in October, Meta changed teens’ Instagram accounts to allow them to watch content that mirrored what might be shown in a video intended for people 13 and older.
Update, January 23: Added information from Meta spokesperson.
Amendment, January 23: : It explained that Meta is still working on how to share insights with parents about the conversations their teens are having with Meta’s AI assistant.