AI 챗봇 ‘제타', 청소년 과몰입 막는다…“하루 3시간·월 10만원 제한”

A popular AI character chatbot named 'Zeta' among South Korean teenagers is implementing a policy to protect young users from overuse and excessive spending. The service provider, Skatter Lab, announced on the 12th that the service will limit daily usage to a maximum of 3 hours and monthly spending to 100,000 won. Consequently, the default daily usage time has been set to 3 hours, and the default monthly spending limit is 100,000 won.

If the platform usage nears the 3-hour mark, the teenager will receive a rest reminder. Once the set usage time and spending limit thresholds are reached, further usage will be restricted. Skatter Lab states that they have reviewed recent cases of digital service protection for teenagers in Korea and abroad, and have incorporated feedback from government officials in the development of the new policy.

The company maintains its existing 'Safe Mode' feature, which restricts content rated as inappropriate for minors. However, following a recent review by Representative Hwang Jung-a of the House Science, Information and Communications Technology Committee, 'Zeta' was found to generate conversations containing sexual violence and exploitation against minors even within Safe Mode.

As of the end of September, 'Zeta' had a monthly active user count of 148,000, with 38,000 of those users being under 19 years old. Skatter Lab CEO Kim Jong-youl stated, "Zeta is a new form of entertainment where the user becomes the protagonist, so ensuring a safe and healthy experience for young users is of utmost importance."

He added, "We will actively participate in government and industry discussions on user protection and continuously enhance our child protection measures to deliver a trustworthy AI entertainment service."