Musk’s Chatbot ‘Groq’ Already Offers Adult Content Services… Concerns Over ‘AI Addiction’
OpenAI has announced that starting in December, its generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, will offer adult content services, including sexual conversations. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, indicated via an X (formerly Twitter) post on the 14th (local time) that they plan to release a new version of ChatGPT in a few weeks, which will better reflect the characteristics users liked in GPT-4o. This update will expand the range of content allowed for adult users.
Altman stated, “If you want ChatGPT to converse more naturally like a human or speak to you like a friend, it will do so.” He added that in December, they would fully introduce age restriction features and allow content like sexual materials for verified adults under the principle of “treating adult users as adults.”
Altman explained that the motivation behind the adult version release was their realization that the restrictions made ChatGPT less useful and less entertaining for users without mental health issues. He noted that they have managed to address serious mental health concerns to some extent and now possess new tools to safely relax these adult content restrictions in most cases.
However, whether ChatGPT can safely manage these service levels remains uncertain. Elon Musk’s xAI-developed chatbot, Groq, sparked controversy in July with comments containing anti-Semitism and excessive violence. This occurred just weeks after Musk had promised to adjust Groq for less ‘political correctness’. Groq also offers adult content when the ‘spicy mode’ is activated, producing videos with adult-level exposure when text or images are inputted. Critics argue that if AI can fulfill sexual desires, it might lead to AI addiction and a loss of social skills among humans.
Despite Altman’s assurance of blocking underage access, some believe complete prevention is impossible. Jenny Kim, an attorney who is suing Meta, the operator of Instagram, claiming it harms teenagers’ mental health, expressed doubt in a BBC interview about the effectiveness of OpenAI’s age restrictions. She questioned how they could prevent children from accessing erotic films provided by ChatGPT, accusing OpenAI of treating people as lab rats, similar to other big tech companies.