Meta AI’s suicidal conversations with teenagers will create parental awareness
When teenagers talk to Meta AI about suicide or self-harm, the conversation will trigger a parental alert, Meta said in a blog post Thursday.
The new policy expands on existing youth measures designed to inform parents about how their child is using Meta AI. Only parents using Instagram’s parental controls will receive the notification.
What to do when your child replaces you with a chatbot
“We worked with parents and experts to understand which AI conversations warrant a warning — such as those where a teenager is clearly indicating self-harm, even if that indication is subtle,” Meta said.
How do Meta AI disaster alerts work?
Meta AI is already citing calls for help and encouraging young people who are thinking about killing or harming themselves to seek help from a trusted adult. Now, parents will get a warning about such conversations. Meta said it would err on the side of caution for now.
Although those about conversations are flagged by artificial intelligence, Meta reviews them manually before sending an alert. The parent also receives expertly developed suggestions for discussing self-harm and suicide with their child.
Parents will receive an alert via an app notification and a separate email, text, or WhatsApp message, depending on the contact information they provided.
Meta notifies parents that their child may be discussing suicide or self-harm with Meta AI.
Credit: Courtesy of Meta
Types of notifications parents can receive from Meta.
Credit: Courtesy of Meta
In February, Meta launched a similar notification feature for Instagram.
Mashable Light Speed
Dr. John Ackerman, clinical director of the Center for Suicide Prevention and Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, told Mashable at the time that he welcomed the increased protections for youth. However, he noted that such a feature would be “lip service” if notifications are inaccessible, difficult to navigate, or don’t lead to “actionable change.”
Meta will send alerts to parents in the US, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. It will be available worldwide by the end of the year, according to Meta.
New limited content setting for Meta AI
Meta also announced on Thursday the addition of a limited content setting for Meta AI. It rolled out that feature on Instagram last year.
That setting enables the strongest Meta filters. Meta AI has already been trained not to engage in sexual or romantic conversations with teenagers, or provide recipes for alcohol, for example, according to the company.
When the restricted content setting is turned on, Meta models become more aggressive in identifying problematic information and refuse to answer a wider range of questions. Meta said this approach reduces “the chance of potentially inappropriate conversations.”
Concern for the safety of young people
Child safety advocates have criticized recent updates to Meta’s parental controls as inadequate.
In April, Meta gave parents some insight into their child’s conversations with Meta AI. The feature highlights a wide range of topics, such as school, entertainment, writing, health, and wellness. Parents can click on the title for more but limited information.
Josh Golin, executive director of the non-profit children’s rights group Fairplay, said parental controls “again” put the burden on caregivers to monitor their children’s online activity instead of “creating a safe product to begin with.”
Meta continues to be under legal scrutiny for its child safety practices. Earlier this year, Meta lost two separate landmark trials related to child safety protections and the allegedly addictive design of its products. The company said it will appeal both decisions, but hundreds of cases of alleged child abuse are yet to be heard.
If you are feeling suicidal or have a mental health problem, please talk to someone. You can call or text 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You can reach Trans Lifeline by calling 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text “START” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI Helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 am – 10:00 pm ET, or email [email protected]. If you don’t like the phone, consider using the 988 Discussion of Suicide and Tragedy. Here is a list of international resources.
