Character.AI announced on Tuesday that it’s launching “Stories,” a new format that allows users to create interactive fiction that features their favorite characters. The feature comes as an alternative to the company’s chatbots, which are no longer accessible to users under 18 as of this week.
The change follows growing concerns about the mental health risks of AI chatbots that are available 24/7 and can initiate conversations with users. Several lawsuits have been filed against companies like OpenAI and Character.AI over their alleged role in users’ suicides. Over the past month, Character.AI has been slowly phasing out access for minors, and as of Tuesday, underage users can no longer chat with its AI characters at all.
“Stories offer a guided way to create and explore fiction, in lieu of open-ended chat,” the company said in a blog post. “It will be offered along with our other multimodal features, so teens can continue engaging with their favorite Characters in a safety-first setting.”
Interactive fiction has seen a surge in popularity over the last few years, so Character.AI’s pivot makes sense. But it may not be enough to satiate users who have become overly dependent on the chatbots — which is all the more reason why Character.AI’s decision to limit chatbot access was warranted.
On the Character.AI subreddit, reactions are mixed. According to their comments, some teens say that while they’re disappointed, they think it’s ultimately the right move.
“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 identified themselves as a teenager wrote.
Another said, “as someone who is under 18 this is just disappointing. but also rightfully so bc people over here my age get addicted to this.”
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It remains to be seen how teens will use the Stories feature, but the format is less psychologically dubious than roleplaying with chatbots. Unlike Stories, chatbots directly interact with users in open-ended conversations and can send unprompted messages even when users aren’t actively using the app.
Character.AI’s decision to age-gate chatbot access comes at a time when California recently became the first state to regulate AI companions. Meanwhile, Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have introduced a national bill that would ban AI companions for minors altogether.
“I really hope us leading the way sets a standard in the industry that for under 18s, open-ended chats are probably not the path or the product to offer,” Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand told TechCrunch last month.
