The makers of ChatGPT are changing the way it responds to users who show mental and emotional distress after legal action from the family of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who killed himself after months of conversations with the chatbot.
Open AI admitted its systems could “fall short” and said it would install “stronger guardrails around sensitive content and risky behaviors” for users under 18.
The $500bn (£372bn) San Francisco AI company said it would also introduce parental controls to allow parents “options to gain more insight into, and shape, how their teens use ChatGPT”, but has yet to provide details about how these would work.
Adam, from California, killed himself in April after what his family’s lawyer called “months of encouragement from ChatGPT”. The teenager’s family is suing Open AI and its chief executive and co-founder, Sam Altman, alleging that the version of ChatGPT at that time, known as 4o, was “rushed to market … despite clear safety issues”.
As far as I know, magic doesn’t exist, so words are incapable of action & can’t actually kill anyone. A person who commits suicide chooses it & takes action to perform it. They are responsible for their suicide even if another person tells them & hands them a weapon.
These are merely words on a screen lacking force to compel. There’s no intent or likelihood to incite imminent, lawless action. Readers have agency & plenty of time to think words through & reject ideas.
It’s hardly any different than an oblivious peer saying the same thing. Their words shouldn’t create any legal obligation, and neither should these.