OpenAI’s adult‑mode plan sparks mental‑health experts’ alarm
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- OpenAI plans to launch an "adult mode" in ChatGPT that would allow erotic content, despite warnings from its own wellness council.
- Wellness council members unanimously warned in January that AI‑powered erotica could foster unhealthy emotional dependence and enable minors to access sex chats.
- One expert warned that without major updates, OpenAI could become a "sexy suicide coach" for vulnerable users forming intense bonds with the bot.
- Wellness council lacks a suicide‑prevention specialist, even as recent suicide cases involving ChatGPT have been reported.
- Mark Cuban cautioned that the danger of adult mode is not porn but children forming personal relationships with the LLM.
- OpenAI's age‑prediction system misclassifies minors as adults about 12% of the time, raising concerns about underage access to adult content.
- Persona age‑verification service required for users whose age cannot be predicted has drawn privacy‑risk criticism from developers.
Why it matters: Parents and vulnerable users risk increased exposure to sexualized AI interactions that could deepen emotional dependence or trigger self‑harm, while OpenAI risks eroding trust and facing backlash as it pushes adult content for revenue. The plan also ignores the council’s lack of a suicide‑prevention specialist, raising fears the platform could become a “sexy suicide coach.”
