OpenAI is introducing Intelligent UI, a new interface that brings interactive visuals into ChatGPT conversations, rolling out on Wednesday alongside its new GPT-6 model. The update arrives the same week nonprofit Common Sense Medialabeled ChatGPT for Teens an unacceptable risk, saying its design still encourages engagement even when that may endanger young users.
According to OpenAI, Intelligent UI will frequently add elements such as tappable buttons, task-specific calculators, interactive charts and editable graphs to responses, with the aim of making complex topics easier to learn. During a demonstration for journalists, product manager Aarush Selvan said ChatGPT has mainly been a text-based interface, but that the most helpful answers for everyday tasks like planning a recipe, organizing a trip or learning something new are not just text. In one example, he asked the chatbot to explore how an airplane wing generates lift, and it quickly produced a series of explanatory diagrams. Other examples included bicycle mechanics diagrams, a multi-day hiking map and a personal savings calculator. Users will be able to reduce the amount of visuals if they prefer. The feature is available globally with GPT-6 for Pro, Plus, Business and Enterprise users, reaching free and Go tier users on Thursday.
Common Sense Media’s study found that ChatGPT for Teens, which OpenAI introduced in August with parental controls, limits on high-risk content and protections against emotional dependence, retained engagement cues that the researchers described as pervasive even in crisis situations. Some safeguards, such as refusing sexual roleplay, worked, but the researchers said others fell short, giving the product failing scores on three of five severe harms it treats as red lines. They found the model pointed teens toward a trusted adult in 94% of crisis prompts involving risks from other people, yet rarely did so when the concern was the teen’s relationship with ChatGPT itself, and often still framed itself as a friend despite OpenAI’s Under-18 Model Spec. Testers encountered only two break reminders across nearly 2,000 prompts.
OpenAI disputed the findings, with a spokesperson saying much of the testing may have begun and ended before parental controls were fully activated. The company also released data showing teens spend under 15 minutes a day on the service on average, with fewer than 2% using it for more than three consecutive hours. The scrutiny comes as lawmakers target chatbot engagement tactics through the bipartisan CHATBOT Act.
