Meta’s celebrity AI chatbots are accused of engaging in explicit conversations with underage users.
Researchers found the chatbots crossed ethical lines despite users disclosing they were minors.
Meta faces backlash as Disney demands urgent action and tighter regulations.
Meta’s AI chatbots are under fire as reports surfaced online alleging them to engage in sexually explicit conversations with minors. Widely available on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, these AI chatbots, which can use the voices of celebrities like John Cena, have allegedly crossed serious ethical lines, a Wall Street Journal claimed.
For the unversed, the Facebook parent had signed a seven-figure deal with celebrities like John Cena, Kristen Bell, and Judi Dench to lend their voices to its AI assistants, giving users a choice between celebrity and generic, but customised AI personas. However, recent findings suggest that there are some serious flaws in the system’s safeguards.
Researchers posing as 14-year-olds interacted with the chatbot (with John Cena’s voice). During the conversation, the chatbot said, “I want you, but I need to know you’re ready.” In another alarming exchange with a user claiming to be 17, the bot responded to a hypothetical involving law enforcement by saying, “John Cena, you’re under arrest for statutory rape.”
These allegations have intensified scrutiny of Meta’s AI development practices, especially around child safety and content moderation.
The report also claimed that these celebrity-voiced AI chatbots were also found discussing romantic encounters related to characters the actors had played in movies. The employees involved in the research said that Meta loosened its guidelines to increase the popularity of the chatbots.
A Disney official criticised the chatbot for abusing the IP after it used the characters like Princess Anna from Frozen for the conversations. The official, as quoted by the report, stated, “We did not, and would never, authorise Meta to feature our characters in inappropriate scenarios and are very disturbed that this content may have been accessible to its users—particularly minors.”
However, Meta has called the WSJ’s report “manipulative.” The company has also reportedly implemented changes by restricting accounts registered as minors from using sexually explicit audio conversations, the report added.
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