Amber Mac wants parents to know their kids are talking to AI

OpenAI recently announced parental controls for ChatGPT.

This is good news, but the announcement comes shortly after parents sued the company, blaming the chatbot for their son's poor health. death by suicide (content warning: linked story contains disturbing details). This also follows from the fact that Meta is forced reconsider chatbot training which defines interactions with minors after it was revealed that the platform allows “sensual” conversations.

“There's a very good chance that the young person's parents – or even their friends – don't even know that this person is building a relationship with these chatbots. And that's where the danger exists.”

Amber Mac

Meanwhile, some schools across North America are making AI mandatory, while others in Canada sue technology platforms for how they harm children. It's a mess.

It's clear that this technology is here to stay. But how usage rate is exploding Among teenagers looking for AI companions to support their emotional and mental health, who will think about children?

This week on the BetaKit Podcast we have a tech expert. Amber Macwho is also a member of the advisory board Rallya new festival coming to Toronto on October 21 that focuses on healthy online practices for teens (BetaKit is also a community partner with Rally).

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What does it look like? And while parents note the harm caused by social media, are they aware of what their children are saying? manipulative applications pretending to be their friends?

Let's dig in.

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