OpenAI expands ChatGPT for Teens and previews a College Planner
We're sharing progress on ChatGPT for Teens, our ChatGPT experience for people under 18, alongside a preview of College Planner, new study tools, and support for college advisers and teen voices. ChatGPT for Teens applies automatically to accounts identified as belonging to someone under 18, with protections on by default. Coming soon: College Planner brings application requirements, deadlines, tasks and financial-aid steps together for high school students in the U.S. planning to attend a four-year college. We'll keep building these tools, evaluating how they and their protections work in practice, and sharing what we learn.
Context
Accounts identified as under 18 get protections on by default as OpenAI builds more tools for students.
AI companies face growing pressure over how minors use chatbots. OpenAI says ChatGPT for Teens applies automatically to accounts it identifies as under 18. College Planner will collect application deadlines and financial aid steps for US high school students.
Deep dive
OpenAI shared an update on ChatGPT for Teens, the under-18 experience it introduced in August. OpenAI says teen mode applies automatically to accounts identified as belonging to someone under 18, with protections on by default.
The main addition is a preview of College Planner. OpenAI says it gathers application requirements, deadlines, tasks and financial-aid steps for the schools on a student's list into one plan, and students can ask ChatGPT questions along the way. OpenAI also added study tools: on iOS, users can take several photos in a row and turn them into one PDF, and ChatGPT can make flashcards from notes.
The update follows a Common Sense Media report that rated ChatGPT for Teens an unacceptable risk, saying it still does students' homework and does not alert parents when it should. OpenAI says teens spend under 15 minutes a day on ChatGPT on average.
What to expect next
OpenAI says College Planner is coming soon, without a firm date, and that in the US it will first focus on students in grades 10 through 12 who plan to attend a four-year college.
OpenAI says it will keep evaluating how its teen protections work in practice.