Character.AI Bans Teens: AI Safety Concerns & Regulations

Character.AI bans users under 18 due to safety concerns. Study reveals teens use AI for companionship & mental health, raising concerns about AI's impact on youth. Calls for AI regulations increase.

” Character.AI’s transfer to kick kids under 18 off its platform is an excellent start, however let’s be clear: Silicon Valley doesn’t obtain a gold star for finally doing the bare minimum,” Rodrigues stated. “Moms and dads have actually been shouting from the rooftops regarding the threats of uncontrolled AI, and this choice reveals the technology market is just now waking up.”

And while teenagers won’t be able to use the firm’s flexible AI chat, they will quickly be able to access various other means to utilize the app, for example, by developing videos, tales and streams with AI characters.

Teenagers’ AI Usage Statistics

A different July study by Sound judgment Media likewise found that 1 in 3 teenagers claimed they have actually utilized AI buddies “for social communication and connections, including role-playing, enchanting communications, psychological support, friendship, or conversation practice.”

Children and teenagers will soon be prohibited from using a key conversation function on a prominent application– Character.AI– that permits users to develop partnerships with artificial intelligence buddies, the company introduced Wednesday.

Character.AI’s Teen Ban Announcement

“We intend to set a precedent that focuses on teen safety while still offering young individuals chances to discover, play, and produce,” Character.AI stated in its Wednesday statement. “We will continue to collaborate with safety specialists, regulators, and other stakeholders to make certain that user safety continues to be critical as we establish ingenious brand-new attributes that promote community, creativity, and discovery.”

Character.AI said all these changes are taking place “taking into account the developing landscape around AI and teenagers.” The business added that current news reports and regulatory authorities have raised questions about exactly how flexible AI chat in general might affect teens “also when material controls work perfectly.”

Safety Concerns & Regulatory Pressure

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National Parents Union’s Head of state Keri Rodrigues, in a Wednesday declaration, called for liability and regulations around, including “guardrails with teeth that place kids’s safety and mental health and wellness first”– and prior to revenue.

Current study has actually indicated the emergence of bothersome relationships some students are establishing with AI companion tools. And youth advocates have actually strongly recommended that anyone younger than 18 avoid apps like Character.AI for posturing major psychological health risks to trainees.

AI Safety Lab Launched

To keep individuals younger than 18 from Character.AI’s key conversation function, the company claimed it would turn out an “age assurance capability.” Furthermore, Character.AI said on Wednesday that it will release and fund the AI Security Lab, an independent not-for-profit focused on security innovations for brand-new AI amusement devices.

Character.AI stated it will certainly phase out the ability for customers under 18 to engage in an open-ended chat with AI personalities on its system by Nov. 25. The move comes at a time when youth media security and mental health companies are elevating red flags regarding AI social friend applications.

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Lawsuits Filed Against Character.AI

Some 42% of pupils stated they or their close friends made use of AI for mental health and wellness assistance, as a friend or companion, or as a method to escape from reality throughout the 2024-25 school year, according to a survey by the nonprofit Center for Freedom & Technology. Almost 20% of pupils reported making use of AI to have a charming connection, according to the CDT study results launched in October.

The step additionally comes as several legal actions are pending against Character.AI from the Social Network Victims Regulation Center on behalf of family members who allege the AI companion app resulted in their kids’s self-destruction or tried suicide.