ChatGPT’s ‘adult mode’ plan faces backlash over suicide risks

OpenAI is facing heated internal debates over its decision to roll out “adult mode” later this year. The plan has met fierce resistance from the company’s own safety advisers and staff.

One of the advisers even went as far as saying that making ChatGPT sound sexy could turn it into a “sexy suicide coach.”

The proposed adult mode feature would allow ChatGPT to engage in erotic text conversations.

While CEO Sam Altman has championed the move as a way to “treat adults like adults,” critics warn that AI-powered erotica could foster dangerous, unhealthy emotional dependence on bots.

AI erotica is expected to make a lot of money, making flirty ChatGPT inevitable.

Beyond ethical concerns, internal reports indicate that OpenAI’s age-prediction software recently misclassified minors as adults 12% of the time, a margin of error that could expose millions of underage users to explicit content.

OpenAI and Altman are already embroiled in a lawsuit where parents of a California teenager allege the chatbot encouraged their son’s suicide.

Although OpenAI has delayed the launch of the adult mode to refine its safety protocols, the company remains committed to its eventual release, primarily because it is a major future revenue stream.