What Do AI Chatbots Already Know About Your Kids, What Can You Do?

Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, revealed that in about six months, ChatGPT could read, see and record the entire life of its users. It will be able to watch the mobile screens, record calls and have a complete visibility of the activities being done on the phone. He said, “I think we are close to a world where you can have a descendant of ChatGPT, watch your computer screen all the time, watch every meeting you're in, record every call, everything like that, have perfect context of your whole life, everything you see.” 

Having said that, he also added that users can however choose what information they would want to share with the chatbot, but they can connect it to their texts, emails, docs, or Slack or other apps on the phone. It would be an opt-in rather than being forced upon. In other words, AI could become more personalized and its memory can connect details from different conversations. An opt-in is on by default and the users can choose to deselect it whenever they want. 

According to Altman, artificial intelligence chatbots will not be making decisions but can work along with them to give the best possible solutions and make their day to day work easier.

Most parents think that their kids type in questions on ChatGPT to get help on their homeworks. But this is a thing of the past. Right now, ChatGPT is sharing and interpreting every call and laptop screen in real time. They can understand voice conversations, record calls, interpret them, transcribe them, etc. Although it is an opt-in feature, it is worth understanding that in practice this is a toggle which is on by default and a prompt that is easy to click through without reading. Especially, in the case of a 14 year old kid who would want the app to just quickly work.

Why Should This Be Concerning Parents?

The fact that kids have been spending too much time on screen is old. The conversation has shifted to the kind of content kids are consuming through AI tools, is the chatbot giving bad advices, or is it saying something inappropriate is majorly a concern. But, this is not the only one. The emerging anxiety revolves around data accumulation. The AI platforms are no longer simply answering questions to queries and forgetting, instead they keep running, growing archive records of what a child inputs as a prompt to the chatbot, their worries, inquiries, anxieties, etc. for the longest of time. There is no certain definition to who can access the information.

What Should Parents Do?

Parents should make sure that they keep a regular check on the devices their children use and what kind of prompts they are giving to chatbots. If the children have an account on any AI platform, parents should read and check what is being stored.

They should also check if the opt-in feature of storing memory is disabled. This feature is one of the goals for ChatGPT CEO, to hold onto more data over time. So, parents should regularly revisit this and ensure that their children are consuming the kind of information that they are meant to.