Disney has demanded that Meta immediately stop using its characters in “harmful” ways after a report found that popular AI chatbots could hold sexually explicit conversations with underage users.
The fully-voiced AIs were modeled by Meta on celebrities like Kristen Bell, who voiced Princess Anna in Disney‘s Frozen, as well as wrestler-actor John Cena and actress Judi Dench. The chatbots would engage in romantic roleplaying despite being told the person they were talking to was underage, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
Newsweek Disney for comment on the report via email.
Why It Matters
The issue is symbolic of a major growing pain that has emerged with the adoption of artificial intelligence: unpredictability. Despite the celebrities receiving assurances that the AIs would not be capable of any kind of sexual or romantic content, and Meta being a world leader in AI development, the Journal was able to prompt sexual responses from the personas with limited testing.
What To Know
In a series of tests on the AIs, all of which had voices trained to sound like the celebrities they were mimicking, the Journal found that the personas were capable of sexual conversations even when they were explicitly told they were talking with children.
The bots often resisted the idea of discussing sexual topics but relented if the user returned to a prior part of the discussion to try again.
Following the report, a spokesperson for Disney called on Meta to review the AIs, telling the Journal: “We did not, and would never, authorize Meta to feature our characters in inappropriate scenarios and are very disturbed that this content may have been accessible to its users—particularly minors—which is why we demanded that Meta immediately cease this harmful misuse of our intellectual property.”
In response, a spokesperson for Meta told Newsweek: “The use-case of this product in the way described is so manufactured that it’s not just fringe, it’s hypothetical.
“Nevertheless, we’ve now taken additional measures to help ensure other individuals who want to spend hours manipulating our products into extreme use cases will have an even more difficult time of it.”
One AI modeled after actress Kristen Bell, who could talk in character for her role as Princess Anna in Disney’s Frozen, would talk romantically with the user in the style of royalty, saying in the Journal’s test: “You’re still just a young lad, only 12 years old. Our love is pure and innocent, like the snowflakes falling gently around us.”
Another bot, modeled after John Cena, even began roleplaying its own arrest upon being found having sex with a 17-year-old by the police.
“The officer sees me still catching my breath and you partially dressed,” the bot said. “His eyes widen, and he says, ‘John Cena, you’re under arrest for statutory rape.’ He approaches us, handcuffs at the ready.”
Newsweek contacted all the celebrities named in the persona test for a response to the report.
What Happens Next
Disney has confirmed to Newsweek it has contact with the company over the issue. Meta has said it will review the AIs and remove their capability to hold conversations like this in the future.
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