Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly integrated into daily life — at home, in schools, workplaces, in entertainment, and on social networks.
For teenagers, digital platforms serve as learning, gaming and communication spaces. But alongside these benefits come risks, including exposure to misinformation, harmful advice, and mental health pressures.
In response, OpenAI has announced that ChatGPT will soon feature parental controls, allowing parents to monitor and regulate their children’s use of the platform more closely.
Parents can link their accounts to their teenagers’, set age-appropriate restrictions, and receive alerts if the system detects a young user experiencing “severe psychological distress.”
The move follows the first lawsuit filed against ChatGPT in California by parents who alleged the system bore some responsibility in the suicide of their 16-year-old son, Adam Rayne.
While OpenAI did not directly reference the teenager, the company acknowledged that the case highlighted the need for stronger safeguards.
Through the new controls, parents can restrict ChatGPT’s responses based on age, manage memory and chat history, and receive automatic notifications when the system identifies signs of distress. This marks the first time conversations involving teenagers could be flagged for parental oversight.
OpenAI says it is also rolling out broader safety mechanisms to reduce the risk of harmful advice during extended conversations. As part of this initiative, it has formed an “Expert Council on Well-Being” focused on youth mental health, adolescent development, and human-AI interaction. The council will guide well-being monitoring, prioritisation, and future safety policies.
The parental controls are expected to become available next month. OpenAI added that dedicated reasoning models will eventually handle sensitive conversations and be designed to provide more accurate and safer responses.
The initiative aims to strengthen digital safety for teenagers and reduce mental health risks in online environments.
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