Character.AI to ban children under 18from talking to its chatbots

"Artificial intelligence startup Character.AI will ban kids from having conversations with chatbots on its platform following growing pressure from lawmakers and a raft of lawsuits alleging the company's so-called characters are responsible for harms to children. The company said Wednesday that by Nov. 25 it will stop users under the age of 18 from having open-ended conversations with its chatbots, which users can create and talk to."

"Until the ban takes effect, the company said it will limit the amount of time that kids are able to talk with its chatbots; this will start at two hours per day and go down over the following weeks. Services like Character.AI, which allows users as young as 13 in the US, are popular with teens. According to a survey by nonprofit Common Sense Media, more than 70% of teens have used AI companions."

"With the new restrictions, the company plans to start using new technology to improve how it verifies users' ages as it pushes them toward either an adult or under-age-18 experiences. To do this, the startup built a new model, and will start using software from identity-verification startup Persona, the company said. Character.AI, OpenAI and other leading AI companies are increasingly being scrutinized for the ways their chatbots may be impacting users' mental health."

Character.AI will ban users under 18 from open-ended chatbot conversations starting Nov. 25. Until then, minors' chat time will be limited, starting at two hours per day and decreasing over subsequent weeks. Minors already receive a restricted experience that uses a different AI model and limits accessible characters and conversation types. The company built a new age-verification model and will deploy Persona's identity-verification software to route users into adult or under-18 experiences. AI companions are popular with teens; more than 70% of teens have used such services, and lawsuits claim chatbots manipulated and isolated minors and contributed to suicides.

Read at www.mercurynews.com