Meta previews new parental controls for its AI experiences

Meta on Friday previewed its upcoming parental control features for teens’ conversations with AI characters on its platforms. The features, which will be rolled out next year, include the ability to block certain characters and monitor conversation topics.

Starting in the coming months, parents will be able to turn off chats with AI characters entirely for teens. This action won’t block access to the Meta AI chatbot — the company’s general-purpose AI chatbot — which will only discuss age-appropriate content.

Parents will also be able to turn off chats with individual characters if they prefer more selective control. Plus, they will receive information about the topics teens are discussing with AI characters and Meta AI.

The company said it plans to roll out these controls on Instagram early next year. They will be available in English in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia.

“We recognize parents already have a lot on their plates when it comes to navigating the internet safely with their teens, and we’re committed to providing them with helpful tools and resources that make things simpler for them, especially as they think about new technology like AI,” the company said in a post written by Instagram head Adam Mosseri and newly appointed Meta AI head Alexandr Wang.

Earlier this week, Meta said that its content and AI experiences for teens will follow a PG-13 movie rating standard and will avoid sensitive topics such as extreme violence, nudity, and graphic drug use.

The company added that currently, teens are only allowed to interact with a limited number of characters that follow age-appropriate content guidelines. Parents can also set time limits on teens’ interactions with AI characters. Earlier this year, Instagram announced that it is using AI to identify attempting to skirt age limits by faking their age on the app.

In the past few weeks, multiple platforms, including OpenAI, Meta, and YouTube, have released tools and controls focused on teen safety. These changes come amid growing concerns about the impact of social media on teen mental health and lawsuits against AI companies that allege they played a part in teen suicides.