Since ChatGPT was accused of inciting a teenager to commit suicide, OpenAI has stepped up its efforts to show that it seeks to protect all users, especially minors. It is in this context that the startup announced the creation of a “council of experts in well-being and artificial intelligence.”
Its mission will be to “advise us, ask questions, and help define what healthy interactions with AI should be for all ages,” OpenAI said in a blog post, adding that this will help it “create more useful ChatGPT and Sora experiences for everyone.”
To achieve this, this council is made up of eight people, mainly professors and researchers who, according to the startup, have “decades of experience studying how technology affects our emotions, our motivation and our mental health.”
Promoting healthy adolescent development
If the start-up made the creation of this council official on October 14, in the past it already had some of these experts informally. He asked them, in particular, about the development of parental control, launched at the end of September, and about the notifications that parents receive when a teenager is identified in danger.
Because teens use ChatGPT differently than adults, some of these experts have experience designing technologies that promote healthy youth development. Such is the case of David Bickam, research director of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, who has worked on the impact of young people’s use of social networks on their mental health and development.
Contribute to user well-being
As part of its mission, this Wellbeing Council will hold regular meetings and check-ins with OpenAI, including exploring topics such as what types of safeguards are best for users.
“The consulting will also help us think about how ChatGPT can positively impact people’s lives and contribute to their well-being. Some of our early discussions focused on what constitutes well-being and how ChatGPT can help them manage all aspects of their lives,” the startup said.
In addition to this consultancy, OpenAI also works with doctors and mental health researchers within the Global Physician Network to shape the behavior and policies of their AI models and test the effectiveness of their chatbot in real-world environments. This job will cover psychiatry, pediatrics, psychology and crisis intervention.
Source: BFM TV
