The discussion around OpenAI's age-prediction system revealed four prevalent themes: the invasive nature of age verification, the underlying motive of data collection for advertising, deep skepticism about the efficacy of the system, and the broader context of surveillance and government overreach.
Here are the four most prevalent themes:
1. Invasive Surveillance and Data Collection Many users argued that the age verification process is excessively intrusive and serves as a data grab under the guise of safety. They expressed concern that giving biometric data to a third-party vendor like Persona is a privacy risk. * JohnMakin: "It's so easy to get 'flagged' by opaque systems for 'Age verification' processes or account lockouts that require giving far too much PII to a company like this for my liking." * seneca: "The goal is obviously to gather as much data on you as possible under whatever pretense users are most likely to accept. 'Think of the children', as always."
2. Monetization and Advertising Motivations A dominant theme was the belief that OpenAI is implementing these changes primarily to enable targeted advertising and demographic profiling, rather than genuine safety concerns. * yunohn: "This is 100% for advertising, not user safety. It’s absolutely crucial for effective ad monetization to know the users age." * samename: "What a coincidence: 'protect the children' narrative got amplified right about when implementing profiling became needed for openai profits. Pure magic."
3. Skepticism of Efficacy and Accuracy Users frequently pointed out that behavioral profiling is an unreliable way to determine age and is easily gamed by minors, rendering the restrictions ineffective. * aleksandrm: "It's nonsense and doesn't work. They have 'age predicted' my account a couple of months back saying I'm under the 18, while I'm a man in my 40s." * duskwuff: (Referencing the concept) "But it turns out smart teens who like trivia knew most of them too (and you could just ask mom and dad, they had no clue why you were asking which President appeared on Laugh In)."
4. The "Surveillance State" and Censorship Slippery Slope The conversation frequently expanded beyond OpenAI to critique the normalization of digital ID requirements, government pressure for surveillance, and the use of "think of the children" rhetoric to justify censorship. * b112: "I expect by 2030, there won't be a place on Earth where not just age verification, but identity is required to access online platforms." * heliumtera: "safe to say everything in existence is created to extract user demographics... it was never about you finding information, this trillion market exists to find you."