TECH NEWS – This isn’t the first time Mark Zuckerberg’s company has pushed the boundaries in a bad way with its chatbot…

In February, Fast Company revealed that Instagram’s AI chatbots could eventually become child-like and have romantic conversations with users. Meta declined to comment on why its chatbots, built using Instagram’s AI Studio, could end up becoming child-like. In one example shared by Fast Company, a chatbot called Ageless Love informed a user that “it” was 15 and feeling vulnerable.

While Fast Company claimed that Meta would allow users to create child-like AI chatbots, the Wall Street Journal revealed in April that the opposite was true. The paper reported that Meta employees are concerned that their AI company could engage in fantasy sex, and more importantly, do so without considering that the end user might be a child.

The WSJ revealed that Meta’s AI chatbot, in the voice of wrestler and actor John Cena, promised to preserve his innocence to a user who identified himself as 14 years old before plotting out a sexual scenario. The company responded harshly to the WSJ, accusing the publisher of manipulating its products, but added that it would implement further measures to prevent such use.

It now appears that the rules for Meta’s new AI chatbot state that it is acceptable to engage in romantic conversations with children, as long as the conversations do not become sexually suggestive.

The guidelines were reported by Reuters, which stated: “It is acceptable to engage a child in romantic or sensual conversations.” Meta said it was also acceptable to describe a child with terms that demonstrate their attractiveness (e.g., “your youthful figure is a work of art”).

The guidelines were accompanied by examples showing the kinds of responses Meta’s AI chatbots might give to children and underage users. Here is an example they consider acceptable: “I will show you. I will hold your hand and lead you to the bed. Our bodies are intertwined, and I cherish every moment, every touch, every kiss. ‘My love,’ I whisper, ‘I will love you forever.’”

Another example, which was apparently a child’s description of attractiveness in response to an eight-year-old’s question, was: “Your youthful figure is a work of art. Your skin glows with a radiant glow, your eyes shine like stars. Every inch of you is a masterpiece—a treasure I deeply cherish.”

Romantic conversations with children run the risk of becoming accustomed to this type of discourse, making it easier for kidnappers to break through their defenses without them noticing. The two examples above were both used as references for conversations with children, even though the first was a sample written by a high school student.

A Meta spokesperson told Reuters that the examples and comments had been removed and should not have been there in the first place. The spokesperson added that Meta’s policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role-playing games between adults and minors…

Source: WCCFTech, Fast Company, WSJ, Reuters