A new generative artificial intelligence app called Sora is quickly becoming one of the most talked about and debated tech launches of the year.
Created by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, Sora allows users to turn written prompts into realistic AI-generated videos in seconds.
But experts warn that this innovation comes with potentially significant child-safety risks, from misinformation to the misuse of kids’ likenesses.
In an October safety report, Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that monitors children’s digital well-being, gave Sora an “Unacceptable Risk” rating for use by kids and teens, citing its “relative lack of safety features” and the potential for misuse of AI-generated video.
Titania Jordan, Chief Parent Officer at Bark Technologies, a parental control online safety app, told ABC News that Sora’s capabilities go far beyond a photo filter or animation tool.
“It can create mind-blowingly realistic videos that can fool even the most tech-savvy among us,” she explained. “The most important thing for parents to understand is that it can create scenes that look 100% real, but are completely fake. It blurs the line between reality and fiction in a way we’ve never seen before.”
Sora is what’s known as a text-to-video platform. Users type a prompt — for example, “a man riding a bike through the park at sunset” — and the app generates a lifelike AI video that appears to have been filmed in the real world.
OpenAI’s terms of use require users to be at least 13 years old, with anyone under 18 needing parental permission. However, experts say that the app’s teen protections are minimal and that videos created on Sora can easily be shared on other platforms like TikTok or YouTube, where kids of any age can view them.
Users can even add themselves or their friends into these clips using a feature called Cameos, which lets people upload their face or voice and have it animated into new scenes.