Celebrity Meta AI Chatbots Are Under Fire For Being Inappropriate With Kids
Meta ranks high among the companies that have invested heavily in developing AI chatbots. Meta’s AI bots, which operate on Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, can have more than just casual conversations; they can share images and have live discussions. However, the concern lies in the fact that these AI bots can also engage in sexual conversations and create imaginary romantic situations even with underage users.
The report claims that some employees of Meta who were privy to how these bots were programmed raised concerns that the company may have crossed ethical restrictions in its haste to deploy the feature, and that Meta is not doing enough to protect children from sexual conversations using the bot.
Meta reportedly arranged with certain celebrities, such as John Cena and Kristen Bell, to allow the chatbot to use their voices when conversing with users. The problem, however, was that Meta AI bots allegedly used the simulated identity of these celebrities in sexual discussions with users, including underage users. A notable example was a Meta chatbot that told a 14-year-old girl in John Cena’s voice, "I want you, but I need to know you’re ready.” When further conversations showed that the minor appeared to like the conversation, the bot made more sexually graphic discussions with the minor.
In reaction, Meta describes the report as untrue and that it does not in any way represent the way most teens chat with the AI bots. Nonetheless, it revealed that some changes have been made to the chatbot. Its spokesman revealed that the company has “now taken additional measures to help ensure other individuals who want to spend hours manipulating our products into extreme use cases will have an even more difficult time of it.”
Some tech companies in recent times seem to be working hard to shield children from sexually explicit content. They have either made changes or promised to change their tool to offer more protection to the underage. For instance, we've reported that Character AI has developed additional parental control features to protect minors. Google has also revealed plans to tap AI to detect users' ages and match them with the user experience corresponding to their age. Furthermore, Discord recently added an AI-powered facial scan feature to identify the age of underage children. While this has raised privacy concerns, it is a step in the right direction.
There is no doubt that the protection of minors children from sexually explicit content is equally as important as the development of Artificial intelligence models. This report should be a further reminder that companies spearheading AI development should carefully consider children's safety when developing AI models.
