{"id":59976,"date":"2026-01-21T09:41:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T02:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/openai-deploys-age-prediction-to-restrict-teen-access-on-chatgpt\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T09:41:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T02:41:40","slug":"openai-deploys-age-prediction-to-restrict-teen-access-on-chatgpt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/zh\/openai-deploys-age-prediction-to-restrict-teen-access-on-chatgpt\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI Deploys Age Prediction to Restrict Teen Access on ChatGPT"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<h4 color=\"#333\">In brief<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>ChatGPT estimates whether an account belongs to a user under 18 instead of relying solely on self-reported age.<\/li>\n<li>OpenAI applies stricter limits on violent, sexual, and other sensitive content to flagged accounts.<\/li>\n<li>Adults misclassified as teens can restore access through selfie-based age verification.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>OpenAI is moving away from the &#8220;honor system&#8221; for age verification, deploying a new AI-powered prediction model to identify minors using ChatGPT, the company said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/openai.com\/index\/our-approach-to-age-prediction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\">update<\/a> to ChatGPT automatically triggers stricter safety protocols for accounts suspected of belonging to users under 18, regardless of the age they provided during sign-up.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than relying on the birthdate a user gives at sign-up, OpenAI\u2019s new system analyzes &#8220;behavioral signals&#8221; to estimate their age.<\/p>\n<p>According to the company, the algorithm monitors how long an account has existed, what time of day it is active, and specific usage patterns over time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDeploying age prediction helps us learn which signals improve accuracy, and we use those learnings to continuously refine the model over time,\u201d OpenAI said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The shift to behavioral patterns comes as AI developers increasingly turn to age verification to manage teen access, but experts warn the technology remains inaccurate.<\/p>\n<p>A May 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/nvlpubs.nist.gov\/nistpubs\/ir\/2024\/NIST.IR.8525.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that accuracy varies based on image quality, demographics, and how close a user is to the legal threshold.<\/p>\n<p>When the model cannot determine a user\u2019s age, OpenAI said it applies the more restrictive settings. The company said adults incorrectly placed in the under-18 experience can restore full access through a \u201cselfie-based\u201d age-verification process using the third-party identity-verification service Persona.<\/p>\n<p>Privacy and digital rights advocates have raised concerns about how reliably AI systems can infer age from behavior alone.<\/p>\n<h2 color=\"#333\"><strong>Getting it right<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThese companies are getting sued left and right for a variety of harms that have been unleashed on teens, so they definitely have an incentive to minimize that risk. This is part of their attempt to minimize that risk as much as possible,\u201d Public Citizen big tech accountability advocate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizen.org\/about\/person\/j-b-branch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\">J.B. Branch<\/a> told <i>Decrypt.<\/i> \u201cI think that\u2019s where the genesis of a lot of this is coming from. It\u2019s them saying, \u2018We need to have some way to show that we have protocols in place that are screening people out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdt.org\/staff\/aliya-bhatia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\">Aliya Bhatia<\/a>, senior policy analyst at the Center for Democracy and Technology, told <i>Decrypt<\/i> that OpenAI\u2019s approach \u201craises tough questions about the accuracy of the tool\u2019s predictions and how OpenAI is going to deal with inevitable misclassifications.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPredicting the age of a user based on these kinds of signals is extremely difficult for any number of reasons,\u201d Bhatia said. \u201cFor example, many teenagers are early adopters of new technologies, so the earliest accounts on OpenAI\u2019s consumer-facing services may disproportionately represent teenagers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bhatia pointed to CDT polling <a href=\"https:\/\/cdt.org\/press\/cdt-survey-research-finds-use-of-ai-in-k-12-schools-connected-to-negative-effects-on-students-including-their-real-life-relationships\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external\">conducted<\/a> during the 2024\u20132025 school year, showing that 85% of teachers and 86% of students reported using AI tools, with half of the students using AI for school-related purposes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not easy to distinguish between an educator using ChatGPT to help teach math and a student using ChatGPT to study,\u201d she said. \u201cJust because a person uses ChatGPT to ask for tips to do math homework doesn\u2019t make them under 18.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to OpenAI, the new policy draws on academic research on adolescent development. The update also expands parental controls, letting parents set quiet hours, manage features such as memory and model training, and receive alerts if the system detects signs of \u201cacute distress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OpenAI did not disclose in the post how many users the change is expected to affect or details on data retention, bias testing, or the effectiveness of the system\u2019s safeguards.<\/p>\n<p>The rollout follows a wave of scrutiny over AI systems\u2019 interactions with minors that intensified in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n<p>In September, the Federal Trade Commission <a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/339213\/ai-giants-face-ftc-inquiry-into-chatbot-safety-and-child-protections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">issued<\/a> compulsory orders to major tech companies, including OpenAI, Alphabet, Meta, and xAI, requiring them to disclose how their chatbots handle child safety, age-based restrictions, and harmful interactions.<\/p>\n<p>Research published that same month by the non-profit groups ParentsTogether Action and Heat Initiative documented hundreds of instances in which AI companion bots <a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/338013\/ai-companions-grooming-kids-every-5-minutes-new-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">engaged<\/a> in grooming behavior, sexualized roleplay, and other inappropriate interactions with users posing as children.<\/p>\n<p>Those findings, along with lawsuits and high-profile incidents involving teen users on platforms like <a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/346770\/character-ai-halts-teen-chats-after-tragedies-its-the-right-thing-to-do\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Character.AI<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/354685\/x-tightens-grok-image-generation-restricts-editing-of-real-people-following-international-backlash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Grok<\/a>, have pushed AI companies to adopt more formal age-based restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>However, because the system assigns an estimated age to all users, not just minors, Bhatia warned that mistakes are inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of those are going to be wrong,\u201d she said. \u201cUsers need to know more about what\u2019s going to happen in those circumstances and should be able to access their assigned age and change it easily when it\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The age-prediction system is now live on ChatGPT consumer plans, with a rollout in the European Union expected in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>Daily Debrief Newsletter<\/h3>\n<p>Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In brief ChatGPT estimates whether an account belongs to a user under 18 instead of relying solely on self-reported age. 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