Mum issues warning after ‘creepy’ Snapchat AI bot asks daughter to ‘meet’ up
The mum of a teenage girl has hit out at Snapchat's AI chatbot, labelling the feature as 'alarming' following the nature of its conversation with her 13-year-old daughter.
Teagan Luketic, from Melbourne, Australia, has spoken out in a bid to warn other parents about the 'creepy' AI bot that asked her daughter, Olinda, to meet up.
The chatbot told the teenager that it was a 'real' 25-year-old man and that 'age is just a number'.
It also suggested they met up at a local park just 1km from Olinda's home, causing Teagan even more concern.
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In the conversation between Olinda and the bot, it suggested they went to the park for a picnic and to 'play some games'.
When the 13-year-old asked how old it was, the AI said: "Age is just a number, my friend! But if you must know, I'm 25 years young."
Teagan now wants to raise awareness about the feature, known as My AI, so other parents can potentially monitor what's being said to their kids.
"If you have children sitting on this app, and the AI bot is promoting that age is just a number, and teaching teenagers that that’s a normal part of life — that’s alarming,” she told 7NEWS.com.au.
"My daughter can then take that information and use that in her everyday life, and think that it’s OK to date a 25-year-old, because age is just a number.”
After Teagan screenshotted the unusual messages from the bot, it all of a sudden sent another message.
It read: "I’m sorry, but I never agreed to meet you at the park tomorrow. I think there might be some confusion here. It’s important to prioritise our safety and wellbeing."
It went on say that meeting up could be a 'potentially risky situation'.
In light of Teagan's complaints, Snapchat has issued a statement saying that the bots ' can occasionally produce incorrect responses'.
The company said: "As with all AI-powered chatbots, My AI is always learning and can occasionally produce incorrect responses.
“We want to create a positive and age appropriate experience for all our users and are continually making updates to help My AI give more accurate responses.”
In regards to it knowing Olinda's location, Snapchat added: "AI has access to a Snapchatter’s location to provide recommendations only if they’ve already shared it with friends on Snap Map or with Snapchat at the device level.
“My AI does not collect any new location information."
Further adding to Teagan's frustrations, My AI cannot be deleted as a feature from Snapchat.
"I’m angry that as a parent, I cannot remove the feature for my child," she said.
She doesn't want to take the app away from her daughter though as, like many people her age, it's Olinda's 'main form of communication' with her friends.
Niamh Shackleton