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Teens Can't Talk to Character.AI's Chatbots Anymore. Here's What They Can Do Instead

Stories with visual elements and a choose-your-adventure vibe are the first new feature to replace open-ended conversations.

Headshot of Jon Reed
Headshot of Jon Reed
Jon Reed Managing Editor
Jon covers artificial intelligence. He previously led CNET's home energy and utilities category, with a focus on energy-saving advice, thermostats, and heating and cooling. Jon has more than a decade of experience writing and reporting, including as a statehouse reporter in Columbus, Ohio, a crime reporter in Birmingham, Alabama, and as a mortgage and housing market editor for Time's former personal finance brand, NextAdvisor. When he's not asking people questions, he can usually be found half asleep trying to read a long history book while surrounded by multiple cats. You can reach him at joreed@cnet.com
Expertise Artificial intelligence, home energy, heating and cooling, home technology.
Jon Reed
2 min read
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After announcing last month that it would prohibit teens from having open-ended chats with AI chatbots, Character.AI this week introduced a new way to interact with AI-powered characters. You can now choose some characters, pick a genre and generate guided stories.

Think of the concept as a kind of Choose Your Own Adventure book for the AI age. Instead of turning the page on a pre-written tale, you're telling a large language model where to go next.

AI Atlas

Character.AI framed the move as a way to allow children to get entertainment from interacting with their favorite AI bots. (The platform has a collection of customized "characters" with different traits and "personalities" for people to interact with.) Those under age 18 are no longer able to have open-ended conversations with bots on the platform.

The company implemented age restrictions after it and other AI platforms came under scrutiny for harmful interactions children had with chatbots. Firms have been sued several times this year by parents of teens who died by suicide after discussing self-harm with AI models. That includes OpenAI, maker of the industry-leading ChatGPT, which submitted a response this week in a lawsuit filed by the parents of Adam Raine. Raine's parents allege he died by suicide after repeated interactions with ChatGPT in which the AI continued to engage with him and offered advice on ways to harm himself. OpenAI said it has increased the safety guardrails in its AI models, particularly for those under 18.

Read more: AI Essentials: 29 Ways You Can Make Gen AI Work for You, According to Our Experts

The changes by Character.AI are more sweeping. CEO Karandeep Anand told CNET in October that the move toward more carefully designed roleplaying games and videos will provide a better experience for teens than conversations. 

The stories feature released this week allows anyone to create roleplaying interactions with familiar characters that are replayable and shareable. "By introducing a visual, narrative-first format, our platform continues to support types of creativity beyond open-ended chat," Character.AI said in a blog post announcing the feature. 

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