OpenAI worries people may become emotionally reliant on its new ChatGPT voice mode

(CNN) – NEW YORK – OpenAI is worried that people might start to rely on ChatGPT too much for companionship, potentially leading to “dependence,” because of its new human-sounding voice mode. That revelation came in a report Thursday from OpenAI on the safety review it conducted of the tool – which began rolling out to paid users last week – and the large language AI model it runs on. ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode sounds remarkably lifelike. It responds in real time, can adjust to being interrupted, makes the kinds of noises that humans make during conversations like laughing or “hmms.” It can also judge a speaker’s emotional state based on their tone of voice. Related Stories Within minutes of OpenAI announcing the feature at an event earlier this year, it was being compared to the AI digital assistant in the 2013 film Her, with whom the protagonist falls in love, only to be left heartbroken when the AI admits “she” also has relationships with hundreds of other users. Now, OpenAI is apparently concerned that fictional story is a little too close to becoming reality, after it said it observed users talking to ChatGPT’s voice mode in language “expressing shared bonds”...