After a rocky rollout and user complaints, Snapchat is upgrading its safety features for teens. This includes adding an option for parents to block their child from using the controversial AI Chat bot. This and other features in Snapchat’s Family Center are efforts by the company to respond to growing criticism and increased government scrutiny.
“Creepy” AI Interactions
According to a CBS News report, Snap rolled out My AI in April, but was quickly inundated with worries from parents about whether it was healthy for their children to be conversing with a highly personalized computer chatbot.
CNN reported that teen users also “freaked out” about some of the “creepy” exchanges they had with the bot. They write,
“Unlike some other AI tools, Snapchat’s version has some key differences: Users can customize the chatbot’s name, design a custom Bitmoji avatar for it and bring it into conversations with friends. The net effect is that conversing with Snapchat’s chatbot may feel less transactional than visiting ChatGPT’s website. It also may be less clear that you’re talking to a computer.”
Lyndsi Lee, a mother from East Prairie, Missouri, who works for a software company expressed her concerns to ABC News.
“I don’t think I’m prepared to know how to teach my kid how to emotionally separate humans and machines when they essentially look the same from her point of view,” Lee said. “I just think there is a really clear line [Snapchat] is crossing.”
Updated Safety Features for Teens
These key differences AND the fact that users needed to purchase the premium version of the app in order to turn off the AI feature fueled calls for changes. In response to these and other concerns, Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, rolled out multiple new safety features that can be accessed through the app’s Family Center.
CBS News explains that “The change will mean that if parents opt to turn off the tool, teens can message My AI but the chatbot will respond only with a note that it has been disabled.
Snapchat will also now offer parents:
Visibility into Teens’ Settings: Parents will be able to view:
- Their teens’ Story settings: Teens have the ability to share their Story with their friends, or choose a smaller group of close friends and family.
- Their teens’ contact settings: Snapchatters can only be contacted by people they have added as a friend or, optionally, their phone contacts.
- If their teen is sharing their location with friends on the Snap Map: The Snap Map allows Snapchatters to see where their friends are and what they’re up to, discover interesting places, and view content submitted by Snapchatters around the world. Snapchatters must opt in to share their location – and only have the option to share their location with friends.
Previously, users often struggled to find the Family Center and safety options. The feature can now be accessed in the settings section, or by tapping near the “bitmoji” icon at the top left of the app’s home screen and searching relevant terms such as “safety,” “family” or “parent.”
Expressed Commitment and Government Oversight
Snapchat expressed its commitment to supporting safe use of the app in a posted statement, “Family Center reflects the dynamics of real-world relationships between parents and teens, where parents have insight into who their teens are spending time with, while still respecting the privacy of their personal communications.”
These changes were announced ahead of a planned appearance by Snap CEO Evan Spiegel at a Senate subcommittee hearing later this month and after a federal judge in November ruled that Snapchat parent company Snap, along with Google, Meta and TikTok, must face a lawsuit alleging that their services addicted teen users and caused other mental health harms.