OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on Tuesday that Adult ChatGPT users will soon be able to use a less restricted version of the AI chatbot, which will feature erotic content, marking a new policy change.While it is still uncertain which materials will be considered acceptable erotica, this change could signify a significant alteration in OpenAI's policy, which previously banned such content in most situations.
“In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our ‘treat adult users like adults’ principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults,” Altman said in a social media post on Tuesday.
Altman stated that the current iterations of ChatGPT were designed to be 'quite restrictive' to safeguard users from mental health issues. However, this strategy rendered the chatbot 'less beneficial and enjoyable' for many users who did not have mental health concerns.
He mentioned that with the mitigation of major mental health issues and the introduction of new tools, it is now possible to safely ease restrictions in most situations. These 'new tools' seem to refer to the safety features and parental controls introduced last month to tackle concerns about the chatbot's effect on young users' mental health. Nevertheless, as protections for minors increase, it seems that Altman is prepared for ChatGPT to adopt a more relaxed stance for adults.
In February, OpenAI suggested a change by updating the language on its 'Model Spec' page to specify that, to 'maximize freedom' for users, only sexual content involving minors was banned. However, erotica was still regarded as 'sensitive content' and was allowed to be generated only in specific approved situations.