On Tuesday, Character.AI announced it was introducing “Stories,” a new format that lets users write their own interactive fiction featuring characters and actors they adore. The feature is being rolled out as an option for users, replacing the company’s chatbots, which have been fully disabled for people under 18 since this week.
The move comes amid growing concerns about the mental health implications of 24/7 AI chatbots that prompt and engage users in conversation. OpenAI and Character, among other companies, have been hit with several lawsuits. AI over their purported involvement in users’ suicides. Over the past month, Character. AI has gradually phased out access for minors, and as of Tuesday, minors can no longer chat with any of its AI characters.
“Stories are a limited, guided way to express yourself and share creative content,” the company said in the blog post. “It’ll be added to our other multimodal features so teens can keep using their favourite Interactive Characters in a safety-first environment.”
There’s a surfeit of interactive fiction these days, so Character. AI’s pivot makes sense. But it may not be sufficient to satisfy users who have increasingly relied on chatbots, all the more reason why Character. AI was right to restrict chatbot access.
On the Character.AI subreddit, reactions are mixed. Some teens say they’re disappointed, but feel that ultimately it’s the right thing to do.
“I’m so mad about the ban but also so happy because now I can do other things and my addiction might be over finally,” one user who said they were a teenager wrote.
Another wrote “as an under 18-person. This isn’t very pleasant. But also understandably so bc ppl my age over here get addicted to this.”
How teens will use the feature is anyone’s guess, but it is undoubtedly less psychologically sketchy than roleplaying with chatbots. While it’s not Stories, chatbots make office hours with users available as open-ended dialogues that can reach them unprompted while they’re not using the app.
Character. AI’s move to age-gate chatbot access comes as California becomes the first state to regulate AI companions. In the meantime, Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have already introduced a bill at the national level that would outlaw AI companions for children altogether.
“I would be hoping that leading the way, it sets a bit of an industry standard that for under 18s, open-ended chats are probably not the direction or product to offer,” Character simply said. Karandeep Anand, CEO of AI, told TechCrunch last month.
