"ChatGPT Teen Mode Raises Questions on AI Safety for Indian Adolescents"
Age-prediction system
An algorithmic tool that infers a user's age from behavioural signals like usage patterns, not document verification.
Anthropomorphic AI
AI systems that mimic human empathy and conversation, creating qualitatively different risks than passive content platforms.
AI-powered chatbots have become embedded in adolescent life worldwide. Teenagers use them for homework, emotional support, creative writing, and social interaction. This adoption has outpaced regulatory responses in almost every country. In India, child safety online is governed by a patchwork of laws: the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP Act), 2023. None of these specifically addresses AI-generated content risks or the emotional-dependency risks unique to conversational AI.
AI chatbots present a qualitatively different risk compared to social media. Social media platforms deliver passive content. AI chatbots are anthropomorphic, they mimic empathy, ask follow-up questions, and remember prior conversations. For an adolescent still developing emotional judgement, this creates a distinct vulnerability. Regulators globally have begun treating young users as a separate category requiring specialised protections, not simply a subset of the general adult user base. India has not yet enacted any AI-specific child safety framework.
AI safety for children involves four overlapping dimensions. First, content safety: restricting outputs related to self-harm, eating disorders, violence, and sexual content when the user is a minor. Second, age verification: confirming that a user is actually the age they claim. This is technically difficult. Most platforms rely on age estimation or parental consent flows, both of which can be circumvented. Third, parental controls and transparency: giving guardians visibility into how their children use AI tools and what safeguards are active. Fourth, emotional dependency risks: highly responsive and empathetic AI systems can foster unhealthy reliance in young users, particularly around mental health.
The new teen-specific mode does not create a separate application. It applies additional safeguards within the existing platform when a user's stated age, verified age, or an age-prediction system indicates the user is under 18. …
Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based Projects/Programmes usually suffers in terms of certain vital factors. Identify these factors, and suggest measures for their effective implementation.
Consider the following statements regarding AI chatbot safety for teenagers in India:
1.The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 requires verifiable parental consent before processing personal data of children under 18.
2.The DPDP Act, 2023 also regulates AI-generated content risks and emotional dependency risks for minors.
3.India currently has no independent AI safety regulator with a specific mandate to audit AI systems used by minors.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding OpenAI's age-verification approach for its teen-specific AI mode:
1.The system is designed around the account, not the device, meaning separate accounts on a shared device receive age-appropriate experiences.
2.The age-prediction system can distinguish between different individuals using the same account and switch experiences accordingly.
3.When the system is uncertain about a user's age, it defaults to the under-18 (more restrictive) experience.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Match the following organisations with their relevant contribution to AI child safety research or policy:
List I (Organisation) — List II (Contribution)
A.RATI Foundation — 1. Found AI chatbot safeguards weaken over extended multi-turn conversations
B.Common Sense Media and Stanford Medicine's Brainstorm Lab — 2. Published the Ideal Internet 3.0 study on Indian teenager device-sharing patterns
C.OpenAI — 3. Released a Teen Safety Blueprint specifically addressing India's shared-device context
Select the correct answer:
Consider the following statements regarding the risks AI chatbots pose to adolescents compared to social media platforms:
1.AI chatbots are anthropomorphic — they mimic empathy and conversation — creating qualitatively different risks than passive content consumption on social media.
2.Research has found that AI chatbot safeguards perform better on single explicit prompts than over extended multi-turn conversations.
3.The conversational features that make chatbots engaging, such as empathetic responses and memory, are separate from and unrelated to the risk of emotional dependency in young users.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following best describes the minimum age requirement and the default safety policy of the AI chatbot platform discussed in the context of teen safety?
1.Children below age 13 are not permitted to use the platform.
2.When the age-prediction system is uncertain about a user's age, it defaults to the adult (less restrictive) experience to avoid false positives.
3.The teen-specific safeguards are delivered through a completely separate application, not the regular platform.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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