Apple does not mess around when it comes to content moderation.
The Cupertino-based tech giant reportedly blocked an update to an email app with ChatGPT tech integrated with an age restriction, as it does not include any content filtering.
The app is originally rated as suitable for young Apple customers and can be easily found in the Apple App Store.
BlueMail ChatGPT Grievances
If Apple has a new policy regarding AI, it should be made public and applied to all app developers equally as Tim Cook testified in the congressional hearing.
Apple must not prevent any disruption in BlueMail's functionality and the launch of our innovative AI service. pic.twitter.com/XKWgXJXwX8— Ben Volach 💎 (@benvol) March 2, 2023
Apple reportedly blocked an update to the email app BlueMail, which has a customized version of OpenAI's ChatGPT integrated, over concerns that the app would not properly filter content for young audiences, per Gizmodo.
Apple claims that the app's AI integration does not include content filtering, and with ChatGPT being in its beta form, it does generate content that is potentially sensitive to younger audiences, including racial and gender biases, misinformation, and disturbing language, per Digital Trends. As such, Apple put an age restriction on BlueMail's latest update, preventing anyone underaged from updating the app.
Ben Volach, the co-founder of the app's developer, Blix, found the blocking unfair as Apple could set AI moderation standards at a time when such a feature has little to no government oversight. He added that the tech giant is being discriminatory as other GPT-powered apps seem not to be restricted, per Channel News Asia.
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"We want fairness," Volach said in a tweet. "If we're required to be 17-plus, then others should also have to."
Volach explained that BlueMail has its own content-filtering capabilities which were detailed in its application to be listed in Apple's App Store. As a result, it became available to ages four and above. With the blocking, however, Volach fears that users will have difficulty finding BlueMail in the app store and make them hesitant to use the product.
However, BlueMail isn't the only app with ChatGPT integration that experienced an age restriction in the Apple App Store. Microsoft found the same block when it implemented ChatGPT capabilities into its Bing search engine when it attempted to roll out the AI-laden update to iOS devices.
A Microsoft spokesperson mentioned that Apple gave its latest Bing update an age restriction of 17 and older, while it has no such age restriction on the Google Play Store.
Apple's Response
Apple mentioned that Blix, Volach, and other developers could challenge a rejection through its App Review Board process, and it is currently investigating Blix's complaint.
However, it did not mention if it has new policies in place regarding chatbots or generative AI apps.
Apple's worries about ChatGPT integration do seem well-founded - its App Store became overrun with scammer and malware apps posing as ChatGPT alternatives, chief among them was an app called ChatGPT Chat GPT AI With GPT-3.
The app locked its ChatGPT Plus subscription tier behind a paywall requiring users to pay a hefty sum to access it. It did not take long until it garnered attention from the media for being a price-gouging fake, per the New York Times.
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