Technologies

FTC to AI Companies: Tell Us How You Protect Teens and Kids Who Use AI Companions

As more teens turn to AI for companionship, the investigation comes as no surprise.

The Federal Trade Commission is launching an investigation into AI chatbots from seven companies, including Alphabet, Meta and OpenAI, over their use as companions. The inquiry involves finding how the companies test, monitor and measure the potential harm to children and teens.

A Common Sense Media survey of 1,060 teens in April and May found that over 70% used AI companions and that more than 50% used them consistently — a few times or more per month.

Experts have been warning for some time that exposure to chatbots could be harmful to young people. A study revealed that ChatGPT, for instance, provided bad advice to teenagers, like how to conceal an eating disorder or how to personalize a suicide notes. In some cases, chatbots have ignored comments that should have been recognized as concerning, instead simply continuing the previous conversation. Psychologists are calling for guardrails to protect young people, like reminders in the chat that the chatbot is not human, and for educators to prioritize AI literacy in schools.

There are plenty of adults, too, who’ve experienced negative consequences of relying on chatbots — whether for companionship and advice or as their personal search engine for facts and trusted sources. Chatbots more often than not tell what it thinks you want to hear, which can lead to flat-out lies. And blindly following the instructions of a chatbot isn’t always the right thing to do.

«As AI technologies evolve, it is important to consider the effects chatbots can have on children,» FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said in a statement. «The study we’re launching today will help us better understand how AI firms are developing their products and the steps they are taking to protect children.»

A Character.ai spokesperson told CNET every conversation on the service has prominent disclaimers that all chats should be treated as fiction.

«In the past year we’ve rolled out many substantive safety features, including an entirely new under-18 experience and a Parental Insights feature,» the spokesperson said.

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The company behind the Snapchat social network likewise said it has taken steps to reduce risks. «Since introducing My AI, Snap has harnessed its rigorous safety and privacy processes to create a product that is not only beneficial for our community, but is also transparent and clear about its capabilities and limitations,» the spokesperson said.

Meta declined to comment, and neither the FTC nor any of the remaining four companies immediately responded to our request for comment. The FTC has issued orders and is seeking a teleconference with the seven companies about the timing and format of its submissions no later than Sept 25. The companies under investigation include the makers of some of the biggest AI chatbots in the world or popular social networks that incorporate generative AI:

Alphabet (parent company of Google)
Character Technologies
Instagram
Meta Platforms
OpenAI
Snap
X.ai

Starting late last year, some of those companies have updated or bolstered their protection features for younger individuals. Character.ai began imposing limits on how chatbots can respond to people under the age of 17 and added parental controls. Instagram introduced teen accounts last year and switched all users under the age of 17 to them and Meta recently set limits on subjects teens can have with chatbots.

The FTC is seeking information from the seven companies on how they:

monetize user engagement
process user inputs and generate outputs in response to user inquiries
develop and approve characters
measure, test, and monitor for negative impacts before and after deployment
mitigate negative impacts, particularly to children
employ disclosures, advertising and other representations to inform users and parents about features, capabilities, the intended audience, potential negative impacts and data collection and handling practices
monitor and enforce compliance with Company rules and terms of services (for example, community guidelines and age restrictions) and
use or share personal information obtained through users’ conversations with the chatbots

Technologies

Australians Flock to VPNs in the Wake of Online Age-Restriction Laws

App downloads for VPN services increase sharply as websites in Australia go behind age-restriction walls.

A new set of laws in Australia requiring adult websites and app stores to age-restrict content for those under 18, and requiring AI companies to restrict chatbot offerings from displaying certain types of sensitive or adult content to minors, is apparently driving many to download Virtual Private Network apps there.

Major adult sites have closed their virtual doors to those who aren’t age-confirmed in Australia, and these changes follow a nationwide ban on social media use by teenagers and young children that went into effect in December.

According to reports from Reuters, The Guardian and others, in response to the bans, downloads of VPN-related apps, which people can use to circumvent location-based restrictions, are sharply on the rise. According to Reuters, three of the 15 most downloaded free iPhone apps in the country were VPN-related as the new laws went into effect on Monday.

Lawmakers in some regions, including the US, are well aware that people use VPNs in this way. In states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, laws are being proposed to limit or outright ban VPN use. Wisconsin’s proposed law would require adult sites to block VPN traffic, while Michigan’s proposal would ban VPN use entirely in the state.

There is also a proposal in England under consideration to ban VPN use by minors. That proposal is currently under review.

Technologies

Here’s How to Track the Artemis II Mission in Real Time With NASA’s New Tool

The tool will let you track NASA’s modern lunar program during its 10-day flight around the moon and back again.

More than half a century after astronauts last left footprints on the lunar surface, humanity is preparing to return to the moon. The excitement surrounding NASA’s Apollo program once captivated the world, and now NASA hopes to rekindle that same sense of wonder with its modern lunar effort, the Artemis program.

NASA’s Artemis II launch is scheduled for the first week of April. It’ll be the first human mission to the moon since 1972, and it should be quite the achievement for the Artemis program. Now, NASA has released a new tool that lets the public track Artemis II in real time.

The Artemis program is NASA’s long-term effort to return humans to the moon and establish a sustained presence there for the first time since the Apollo program. The program aims to land astronauts near the lunar south pole, develop new technologies for long-term exploration and use the moon as a stepping stone for future missions to Mars.

The Artemis Real-time Orbit Website, dubbed AROW, is already available to the public, although there isn’t much to see since the launch is still a few weeks away. It’s also available directly from the NASA app if you’re using a mobile device. The site lets the public visualize data collected by sensors on Orion and sent to the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The website is simple to navigate. You’ll see a visual representation of Artemis II’s progress, including its speed, distance from Earth and distance to the moon. Mobile app users get all of the above, along with an extra augmented reality tracker that lets you point your phone at the sky and see where Artemis II is relative to your position on Earth. It works much like Google Star Map and other stargazing apps that use similar technology.

According to NASA, tracking will be available once the Orion capsule separates from the rocket’s upper stage, which is expected about 3 hours after the upcoming April launch. The site will then update its information in real time for the entire 10-day mission.

NASA is also making flight data available for download so that people interested in creating their own content, such as visualizations or tracking apps, can do so. The data will include all sorts of things, including state vectors, which are data that «describe precisely where Orion is located and how it moves.» That same data will be used by NASA to study Orion and make improvements for future Artemis missions.

An exact launch date for Artemis II hasn’t been set, but the agency plans on launching the mission no earlier than April 1. The launch was originally scheduled for February, but it was delayed multiple times due to a hydrogen leak and a helium flow issue. NASA says it has since fixed both issues.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 10, #1003

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 10, No. 1,003

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a fun and diverse mix. If you know your US states, you’ll surely solve the blue category early. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Think Julia Child.

Green group hint: Also, Bro and Sis.

Blue group hint: Minn. and Ore. are two others.

Purple group hint: Hit with your fist.