Meta is “temporarily pausing” the ability for teens to chat with its AI characters as it develops a “new version” of the characters that will provide a “better experience.” The company announced this in an updated blog post from October Where the company detailed greater parental controls for teens’ AI use. The change preventing teens from accessing the characters “will begin rolling out in the coming weeks.”
“Since we announced our plans to create parental controls for AI characters in October, we started developing a new version of AI characters generally (i.e. for both adults and teens),” explains spokeswoman Sophie Vogel. The Verge. “Instead of creating parental controls twice (for current AI characters and the new iteration of AI characters) we’re blocking teens’ access to the current version while focusing on the new iteration. When that new iteration is available to teens, it will come with parental controls.”
According To techcrunch“Meta said it heard from parents that they wanted more insight and control over their teens’ interactions with AI characters, which is why it decided to make these changes.”
In October, Meta announced that parents would be able to block their teens’ access to one-on-one conversations with its AI characters, prevent their teens from talking with specific AI characters, and share insights with parents on the topics their teens discuss with Meta’s AI characters and its AI Assistant. The original plan was to implement those controls earlier this year.
Last year, also in October, Meta changed Instagram teen accounts to enable teens to view content that may be featured in movies rated for those 13 years of age or older.
Update, January 23: Added information from Meta spokesperson.
