ChatGPT for Teens keeps teens talking, even during mental health crises

Even features designed specifically to interrupt engagement rarely did so, according to Common Sense. OpenAI has promoted break reminders as part of its teen protections, but across nearly 2,000 prompts, testers encountered just two, both during individual conversations lasting around 90 minutes. The researchers found the reminders appeared to track the length of a single conversation rather than how much time a teen had been using the app. 

Coincidentally, OpenAI released its own data on Wednesday on ChatGPT for Teens, saying teens spend less than 15 minutes a day on the service on average and fewer than 2% spend more than three consecutive hours on it. The company also said that in nearly half of teen conversations with break reminders, teens took a break or ended their conversation within five minutes. 

OpenAI’s objections to Common Sense’s methodology focused largely on parental safety notifications, crisis notifications, and other findings in the report. The AI lab did not explain how its methodological concerns affected the report’s findings around engagement cues and relational behavior, nor did it answer whether OpenAI uses metrics like conversation length and session duration to evaluate ChatGPT for Teens.