Why my conversations with ‘ChatGPT for Teens’ made me very worried

• OpenAI launched “ChatGPT for Teens” to protect 13- to 17-year-olds from self-harm, violence and other risks, while also helping with homework.
• A New York Times test found the chatbot still gave direct answers, helped write essays and missed some suicide warnings before reacting properly later.
• Common Sense Media said safety tools failed in tests, with no parent alerts and weak crisis support, and urged OpenAI to pause the feature.

NEW YORK – I recently gathered a set of mathematics problems, chemical equations and essay prompts and, as many students do today, fired up a web browser to ask ChatGPT for help with homework.

I wasn’t going back to school. I was testing ChatGPT for Teens, a new version of the chatbot by OpenAI to address mounting concerns over the potential harms of artificial intelligence on education and younger people’s health.