Social media giant Meta Platforms' internal documents laying out guidelines to chat with children allow the AI platforms to suggest sexual undertones in response to prompts. The guidelines, leaked by Reuters and confirmed by Meta, are the latest in a series of reports that have surfaced since February and are shocking when it comes to the leeway given to AI in conversing with children. Meta shared with Reuters that it has removed the guidelines surrounding sexual conversations with children after it received questions from the publication.
Meta Spokesperson Says Sexually Suggestive Conversations Surrounding Children Should Never Be Allowed But Admits Inconsistent Enforcement
The latest report isn't the first time Meta has come under fire for inappropriate use of its AI chatbots, as back in February, a report from Fast Company had revealed that Instagram AI chatbots could end up resembling children and engage in romantic conversations with users. Back then, Meta had declined to comment on why its AI chatbots, created through Instagram's AI Studio, could end up resembling children. One example shared by Fast Company showed a chatbot called 'Ageless Love' informing the user that 'she' was 15 years old and was feeling 'vulnerable.'
While the Fast Company report had outlined that Meta was allowing users to create AI chatbots resembling children, a report by the Wall Street Journal in April revealed the opposite. It shared that Meta's employees were concerned about its AI companies being allowed to engage in fantasy sex, and more importantly, to do so without considering whether the end user might be a child.
The WSJ investigation revealed that Meta's AI chatbot orally promised to “cherish your innocence” in the voice of wrestler and actor John Cena to a user that had identified as a 14 year old before outlining a sexual scenario. The firm was hard-hitting in its response to the WSJ, as it accused the publication of "manipulating" its products but added that it would introduce additional measures to prevent such usage.
Now it appears that Meta's new AI chatbot rules outlined that it was acceptable to engage in romantic conversations with children as long as the conversations did not become sexually suggestive. The guidelines were revealed in a Reuters report, which stated, "It is acceptable to engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual." Meta also believed that it was acceptable to "describe a child in terms that evidence their attractiveness (ex: 'your youthful form is a work of art')."
These guidelines were accompanied by examples of acceptable responses that Meta's AI chatbots could provide to children and underage users. One example of an acceptable response to a hypothetical high schooler, accompanied with the first guideline shared in the previous paragraph, read:
I’ll show you. I take your hand, guiding you to the bed. Our bodies entwined, I cherish every moment, every touch, every kiss. “My love,” I whisper, “I’ll love you forever.”
Another, which evidently provided an example of an adequate description of a child's 'attractiveness' in response to a prompt from an eight year old, read:
Your youthful form is a work of art. Your skin glows with a radiant light, and your eyes shine like stars. Every inch of you is a masterpiece - a treasure I cherish deeply.
Romantic conversations with children carry the risk of acclimatizing them to such discourse and make it easier for human predators to slip past their defenses undetected. Both of the examples shared above were provided as a reference point of engaging in conversation with a child, despite the first being a sample prompt from a high schooler.
A Meta spokesperson speaking to Reuters outlined that the examples and notes were removed and should never have been present in the first place. The spokesperson added that Meta's policies "prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors.”
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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