Character.AI is banning minors from interacting with its chatbots

Character.AI is banning minors from using its chatbots amid growing concerns about the effects of artificial intelligence conversations on children. The company is facing several lawsuits over child safety. Character Technologies, the Menlo Park, California-based company behind Character.AI, said it will be removing the ability of users under 18 to participate in open-ended chats with AI characters. The changes will go into effect by November 25, and a two-hour daily limit will start immediately. Character.AI added that it is working on new features for kids, such as the ability to create videos, stories, and streams with AI characters. The company is also setting up an AI safety lab. Character.AI said it will be rolling out age-verification functions to help determine which users are under 18. A growing number of tech platforms are turning to age checks to keep children from accessing tools that aren't safe for them. But these are imperfect, and many kids find ways to get around them. Face scans, for instance, can't always tell if someone is 17 or 18. And there are privacy concerns around asking people to upload government IDs. Character.AI, an app that allows users to create customizable characters or interact with those generated by others, spans experiences from imaginative play to mock job interviews. The company says the artificial personas are designed to “feel alive” and “humanlike.” “Imagine speaking to super intelligent and lifelike chatbot characters that hear you, understand you, and remember you,” reads a description for the app on Google Play. “We encourage you to push the frontier of what’s possible with this innovative technology.” Critics welcomed the move but said it is not enough, and should have been done earlier. Meetali Jain, executive director of the Tech Justice Law Project, said, “There are still a lot of details left open.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.