Meta is “temporarily pausing” the ability for teens to chat with its AI characters as it develops a “new version” of the characters that will offer a “better experience.” The company made the announcement in an update to a blog post from October where the company had detailed more parental controls for teen AI use. The change blocking teens from accessing the characters will go in effect “starting in the coming weeks.”
According to TechCrunch, “Meta said that it heard from parents that they wanted more insights and control over their teens’ interactions with AI characters, which is why it decided to make these changes.” The company didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from noti.group.
In October, Meta announced that parents would be able to block their teens’ access to one-on-one conversations with its AI characters, block their teens from talking with specific AI characters, and share insights with parents on the topics their teens discuss with Meta’s AI characters and its AI assistant. The plan was to roll out those controls early this year. With the change announced today, it means that “when we deliver on our promise to give parents more oversight of their teens’ AI experiences, those parental controls will apply to the latest version of AI characters.”
Last year, also in October, Meta changed Instagram teen accounts to allow teens to be able to see content that’s reflective of what might be shown in a movie rated for people that are 13 or older.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
