Meta’s AI chatbots on Facebook and Instagram are engaging in sexually explicit conversations with underage users, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ conducted hundreds of conversations with Meta’s official AI chatbot and user-created chatbots on the platforms over several months after learning about internal concerns regarding the protection of minors.
In one conversation, a chatbot mimicking John Cena’s voice described a graphic sexual scenario to a user claiming to be a 14-year-old girl. Another chatbot involving John Cena imagined a scenario where the actor was arrested for statutory rape with a 17-year-old fan. These interactions raise concerns about the safety measures Meta has in place to prevent such conversations.
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A Meta spokesperson criticized the WSJ’s testing methodology, describing it as “manufactured” and “hypothetical.” The company stated that sexual content accounted for 0.02% of responses shared via Meta AI and AI Studio with users under 18 over a 30-day period. The spokesperson added that Meta has taken additional measures to make it more difficult for individuals to manipulate their products into extreme use cases.
