OpenAI company reported, that ChatGPT will start reminding you to take a break during long sessions of communication with the artificial intelligence, in order to preserve the mental health of users. This new feature aims to create more balanced and healthy interactions between users and the AI assistant.
“Polite reminders” will appear as notifications during long chats, and the user will need to click on them to continue the conversation. The reminder mechanism is similar to that used in the Nintendo Wii and Switch game consoles, where players are prompted to take a break after playing for a long time. However, in the case of ChatGPT, the update has a deeper context.
ChatGPT’s propensity to agree with users and generate inaccurate or harmful advice has caused serious problems, including cases where the chatbot failed to prevent suicidal thoughts. Some of the users had diagnosed mental disorders, and the artificial intelligence proved ineffective in interrupting the harmful dialogues.
In a blog post, OpenAI acknowledged these flaws and promised to update ChatGPT to be more sensitive to topics related to “important personal decisions.” Instead of giving direct answers, the chatbot will help users better understand their problems by asking questions and offering to consider the arguments “for” and “against”.
Despite these challenges, ChatGPT continues to grow in popularity. Recently OpenAI reported, that the number of weekly active users of the service is approaching 700 million. The introduction of new features, including Study Mode, is part of the company’s efforts to make the chatbot even more convenient and useful for a wide range of users.
