COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — As students head back to school, artificial intelligence is becoming another tool parents and teachers are navigating, and OpenAI is adding new features designed specifically for teenagers.
OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Teens on Aug. 18, describing it as an experience designed to help teens learn, think critically and deepen their understanding while adding safety protections and parental controls.
Meaghan B Murphy, a mother of three teenagers, said her children, ages 16, 14 and 13, are already using ChatGPT as a learning tool.
One of the biggest changes is Study Mode, which is designed to guide students through problems instead of simply providing an answer. OpenAI says the feature uses guiding questions, step-by-step support and knowledge checks to help students understand the material.
Murphy said that distinction is important for parents concerned that students could use AI to simply complete their assignments.
“Study mode allows them to do that critical thinking and problem solving,” she explained.
OpenAI also has added quizzes and learning visualizations, allowing students to turn material into study guides, flashcards and practice questions. The company also says its system can recognize when a student appears to be trying to shortcut an assignment and redirect them toward step-by-step problem solving.
Murphy said one of her daughters has even been encouraged by a teacher to use the quiz feature.
“You can take all of your class notes. You can put it into quizzes. You can come up with study guides and flashcards. You can do, you know, real-time Q&A to really learn the material,” she added.
The new teen experience also includes additional safeguards. OpenAI says users ages 13 to 17 are automatically placed into the teen experience if the system estimates they are under 18 or they state they are between 13 and 17. The safeguards address areas including self-harm, violence, dangerous activities and explicit sexual or graphic content.
Parents can also link their accounts to their teen's accounts. OpenAI says linked parents can set Quiet Hours, manage selected settings and receive safety notifications in limited high-risk situations.
Murphy said parental controls give families another way to establish boundaries around AI use.
“So as a parent, I can link my teen account to mine, and that's wildly important because then I can put on study mode. I can put on quiet hours. I have a little bit more control and oversight as a parent of how my kids are using AI,” she said.
She said setting up the controls is straightforward... Parents can go into settings, select parental controls, choose “add family member,” and enter their teenager's phone number or email address. The teen then receives a message to accept the connection.
“It still maintains their privacy, but you have oversight of quiet hours, study mode, those kind of things to really help you parent the technology,” Murphy stated.
OpenAI also says its teen experience includes break reminders and other features intended to encourage healthy technology habits and real-world relationships.
For Murphy, however, technology rules should start with a conversation between parents and children.
“AI is new to all of us. We're learning with our teens, and it's got to be a family conversation,” she said. “We've got to establish rules as a family and use it together.”
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