OpenAI introduces new ‘Trusted Contact’ safeguard for cases of possible self-harm

Source: TechCrunch

Overview

On Thursday OpenAI announced a new feature called Trusted Contact, designed to alert a trusted third party if mentions of self‑harm are expressed within a conversation. The feature allows an adult ChatGPT user to designate another person—such as a friend or family member—as a trusted contact within their account. When a conversation may turn to self‑harm, OpenAI will encourage the user to reach out to that contact and will also send an automated alert to the contact, prompting them to check in.

Legal Context

OpenAI has faced a wave of lawsuits from families of people who have committed suicide after talking with its chatbot. In several cases, families allege that ChatGPT encouraged their loved ones to kill themselves—or even helped them plan it out.

Current Safety Process

OpenAI currently uses a combination of automation and human review to handle potentially harmful incidents. Certain conversational triggers alert the company’s system to suicidal ideation, which then relays the information to a human safety team. The company states that every notification is reviewed by a human, aiming to complete the review “in under one hour.”

If the internal team determines that the situation represents a serious safety risk, ChatGPT sends the trusted contact an alert—via email, text message, or an in‑app notification. The alert is brief and encourages the contact to check in with the user, without including detailed information about the conversation to protect user privacy.

Image Credits: OpenAI

Trusted Contact Feature Details

• Optional: Users can choose whether to enable Trusted Contact.
• Multiple Accounts: Even with the feature activated, a user can maintain multiple ChatGPT accounts.
• Privacy‑Focused: Alerts contain no specifics about the content that triggered them.

Related Safeguards

The Trusted Contact feature follows the safeguards OpenAI introduced last September, which gave parents oversight of their teens’ accounts, including receiving safety notifications when the system believes a child faces a “serious safety risk.” ChatGPT has also included automated alerts to seek professional health services when conversations trend toward self‑harm.

Company Statement

“Trusted Contact is part of OpenAI’s broader effort to build AI systems that help people during difficult moments,” the company wrote in the announcement post. “We will continue to work with clinicians, researchers, and policymakers to improve how AI systems respond when people may be experiencing distress.”