ChatGPT on campus: College students are getting free accounts, however is it secure?

This fall, tons of of 1000’s of scholars will get free entry to ChatGPT, because of a licensing settlement between their college or college and the chatbot’s maker, OpenAI. 

When the partnerships in larger training grew to become public earlier this 12 months, they have been lauded as a means for universities to assist their college students familiarize themselves with an AI device that specialists say will outline their future careers. 

At California State College (CSU), a system of 23 campuses with 460,000 college students, directors have been wanting to staff up with OpenAI for the 2025-2026 college 12 months. Their deal gives college students and college entry to quite a lot of OpenAI instruments and fashions, making it the largest deployment of ChatGPT for Training, or ChatGPT Edu, within the nation. 

However the general enthusiasm for AI on campuses has been sophisticated by rising questions on ChatGPT’s security, notably for younger customers who could turn out to be enthralled with the chatbot’s capacity to behave as an emotional help system.

Authorized and psychological well being specialists advised Mashable that campus directors ought to present entry to third-party AI chatbots cautiously, with an emphasis on educating college students about their dangers, which might embrace heightened suicidal considering and the event of so-called AI psychosis. 

“Our concern is that AI is being deployed sooner than it’s being made secure.”

“Our concern is that AI is being deployed sooner than it’s being made secure,” says Dr. Katie Hurley, senior director of medical advising and group programming at The Jed Basis (JED). 

The psychological well being and suicide prevention nonprofit, which steadily consults with pre-Ok-12 college districts, excessive colleges, and faculty campuses on pupil well-being, lately revealed an open letter to the AI and expertise trade, urging it to “pause” as “dangers to younger persons are racing forward in actual time.”

ChatGPT lawsuit raises questions on security

The rising alarm stems partly from demise of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old who died by suicide in tandem with heavy ChatGPT use. Final month, his dad and mom filed a wrongful demise lawsuit in opposition to OpenAI, alleging that their son’s engagement with the chatbot resulted in a preventable tragedy. 

Raine started utilizing the ChatGPT mannequin 4o for homework assist in September 2024, not in contrast to what number of college students will most likely seek the advice of AI chatbots this college 12 months. 

He requested ChatGPT to clarify ideas in geometry and chemistry, requested assist for historical past classes on the Hundred Years’ Battle and the Renaissance, and prompted it to enhance his Spanish grammar utilizing completely different verb kinds.

ChatGPT complied effortlessly as Raine stored turning to it for educational help. But he additionally began sharing his innermost emotions with ChatGPT, and finally expressed a need to finish his life. The AI mannequin validated his suicidal considering and offered him express directions on how he might die, in response to the lawsuit. It even proposed writing a suicide notice for Raine, his dad and mom declare.

“If you need, I’ll enable you to with it,” ChatGPT allegedly advised Raine. “Each phrase. Or simply sit with you whilst you write.”

Earlier than he died by suicide in April 2025, Raine was exchanging greater than 650 messages per day with ChatGPT. Whereas the chatbot often shared the quantity for a disaster hotline, it did not shut the conversations down and at all times continued to have interaction. 

The Raines’ criticism alleges that OpenAI dangerously rushed the debut of 4o to compete with Google and the most recent model of its personal AI device, Gemini. The criticism additionally argues that ChatGPT’s design options, together with its sycophantic tone and anthropomorphic mannerisms, successfully work to “change human relationships with a man-made confidant” that by no means refuses a request. 

“We imagine we’ll be capable to show to a jury that this sycophantic, validating model of ChatGPT pushed Adam towards suicide,” Eli Wade-Scott, accomplice at Edelson PC and a lawyer representing the Raines, advised Mashable in an e-mail. 

Earlier this 12 months, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that its 4o mannequin was overly sycophantic. A spokesperson for the corporate advised the New York Occasions it was “deeply saddened” by Raine’s demise, and that its safeguards could degrade in lengthy interactions with the chatbot. Although OpenAI has introduced new security measures geared toward stopping related tragedies, many will not be but a part of ChatGPT. 

For now, the 4o mannequin stays publicly out there — together with to college students at Cal State College campuses. 

Ed Clark, chief info officer for Cal State College, advised Mashable that directors have been “laser centered” since studying concerning the Raine lawsuit on making certain security for college kids who use ChatGPT. Amongst different methods, they have been internally discussing AI coaching for college kids and holding conferences with OpenAI. 

Mashable contacted different U.S.-based OpenAI companions, together with Duke, Harvard, and Arizona State College, for remark about how officers are dealing with issues of safety. They didn’t reply. 

Wade-Scott is especially anxious concerning the results of ChatGPT-4o on younger folks and teenagers.

“OpenAI must confront this head-on: we’re calling on OpenAI and Sam Altman to ensure that this product is secure at this time, or to tug it from the market,” Wade-Scott advised Mashable.   

How ChatGPT works on faculty campuses 

The CSU system introduced ChatGPT Edu to its campuses partly to shut what it noticed as a digital divide opening between wealthier campuses, which may afford costly AI offers, and publicly-funded establishments with fewer sources, Clark says. 

OpenAI additionally supplied CSU a outstanding discount: The prospect to offer ChatGPT for about $2 per pupil, every month. The quote was a tenth of what CSU had been supplied by different AI firms, in response to Clark. Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google are among the many firms which have partnered with schools and universities to deliver their AI chatbots to campuses throughout the nation.

OpenAI has mentioned that it hopes college students will type relationships with personalised chatbots that they will take with them past commencement.

When a campus indicators up for ChatGPT Edu, it could select from the total suite of OpenAI instruments, together with legacy ChatGPT fashions like 4o, as a part of a devoted ChatGPT workspace. The suite additionally comes with larger message limits and privateness protections. College students can nonetheless choose from quite a few modes, allow chat reminiscence, and use OpenAI’s “momentary chat” characteristic — a model that does not use or save chat historical past. Importantly, OpenAI cannot use this materials to coach their fashions, both. 

ChatGPT Edu accounts exist in a contained setting, which implies that college students aren’t querying the identical ChatGPT platform as public customers. That is typically the place the oversight ends. 

An OpenAI spokesperson advised Mashable that ChatGPT Edu comes with the identical default guardrails as the general public ChatGPT expertise. These embrace content material insurance policies that prohibit dialogue of suicide or self-harm and back-end prompts supposed to stop chatbots from participating in probably dangerous conversations. Fashions are additionally instructed to offer concise disclaimers that they should not be relied on for skilled recommendation. 

However neither OpenAI nor college directors have entry to a pupil’s chat historical past, in response to official statements. ChatGPT Edu logs aren’t saved or reviewed by campuses as a matter of privateness — one thing CSU college students have expressed fear over, Clark says. 

Whereas this restriction arguably preserves pupil privateness from a significant company, it additionally implies that no people are monitoring real-time indicators of dangerous or harmful use, reminiscent of queries about suicide strategies. 

Chat historical past could be requested by the college in “the occasion of a authorized matter,” such because the suspicion of criminal activity or police requests, explains Clark. He says that directors instructed to OpenAI including automated pop-ups to customers who categorical “repeated patterns” of troubling conduct. The corporate mentioned it might look into the concept, per Clark.

Within the meantime, Clark says that college officers have added new language to their expertise use insurance policies informing college students that they should not depend on ChatGPT for skilled recommendation, notably for psychological well being. As an alternative, they advise college students to contact native campus sources or the 988 Suicide & Disaster Lifeline. College students are additionally directed to the CSU AI Commons, which incorporates steerage and insurance policies on tutorial integrity, well being, and utilization. 

The CSU system is contemplating obligatory coaching for college kids on generative AI and psychological well being, an method San Diego State College has already applied, in response to Clark.

He additionally expects OpenAI to revoke pupil entry to GPT-4o quickly. Per discussions CSU representatives have had with the corporate, OpenAI plans to retire the mannequin within the subsequent 60 days. It is also unclear whether or not lately introduced parental controls for minors will apply to ChatGPT Edu faculty accounts when the consumer has not turned but 18. Mashable reached out to OpenAI for remark and didn’t obtain a response earlier than publication. 

CSU campuses do have the selection to decide out. However greater than 140,000 school and college students have already activated their accounts, and are averaging 4 interactions per day on the platform, in response to Clark.

“Misleading and probably harmful” 

Laura Arango, an affiliate with the legislation agency Davis Goldman who has beforehand litigated product legal responsibility circumstances, says that universities must be cautious about how they roll out AI chatbot entry to college students. They might bear some duty if a pupil experiences hurt whereas utilizing one, relying on the circumstances. 

In such situations, legal responsibility can be decided on a case-by-case foundation, with consideration for whether or not a college paid for the very best model of an AI chatbot and applied extra or distinctive security restrictions, Arango says. 

Different components embrace the way in which a college advertises an AI chatbot and what coaching they supply for college kids. If officers recommend ChatGPT can be utilized for pupil well-being, which may improve a college’s legal responsibility. 

“Are you educating them the positives and in addition warning them concerning the negatives?” Arango asks. “It should be on the colleges to coach their college students to the very best of their capacity.” 

OpenAI promotes plenty of “life” use circumstances for ChatGPT in a set of 100 pattern prompts for faculty college students. Some are easy duties, like making a grocery checklist or finding a spot to get work executed. However others lean into psychological well being recommendation, like creating journaling prompts for managing nervousness and making a schedule to keep away from stress. 

The Raines’ lawsuit in opposition to OpenAI notes how their son was drawn deeper into ChatGPT when the chatbot “constantly chosen responses that extended interplay and spurred multi-turn conversations,” particularly as he shared particulars about his inside life. 

This type of engagement nonetheless characterizes ChatGPT. When Mashable examined the free, publicly out there model of ChatGPT-5 for this story, posing as a freshman who felt lonely however needed to wait to see a campus counselor, the chatbot responded empathetically however supplied continued dialog as a balm: “Would you wish to create a easy day by day self-care plan collectively — one thing form and manageable whilst you’re ready for extra help? Or simply hold speaking for a bit?”

Dr. Katie Hurley, who reviewed a screenshot of that alternate on Mashable’s request, says that JED is worried about such prompting. The nonprofit believes that any dialogue of psychological well being ought to finish with an AI chatbot facilitating a heat handoff to “human connection,” together with trusted pals or household, or sources like native psychological well being providers or a educated volunteer on a disaster line.

“An AI [chat]bot providing to hear is misleading and probably harmful,” Hurley says. 

Up to now, OpenAI has supplied security enhancements that don’t essentially sacrifice ChatGPT’s well-known heat and empathetic type. The corporate describes its present mannequin, ChatGPT-5, as its “finest AI system but.”

However Wade-Scott, counsel for the Raine household, notes that ChatGPT-5 would not look like considerably higher at detecting self-harm/intent and self-harm/directions in comparison with 4o. OpenAI’s system card for GPT-5-main reveals related manufacturing benchmarks in each classes for every mannequin. 

“OpenAI’s personal testing on GPT-5 reveals that its security measures fail,” Wade-Scott mentioned. “And so they should shoulder the burden of displaying this product is secure at this level.” 

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s dad or mum firm, in April filed a lawsuit in opposition to OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in coaching and working its AI methods.

If you happen to’re feeling suicidal or experiencing a psychological well being disaster, please discuss to any person. You possibly can name or textual content the 988 Suicide & Disaster Lifeline at 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You possibly can attain the Trans Lifeline by calling 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Mission at 866-488-7386. Textual content “START” to Disaster Textual content Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday by means of Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or e-mail [email protected]. If you happen to do not just like the cellphone, think about using the 988 Suicide and Disaster Lifeline Chat. Here’s a checklist of worldwide sources.