The Character.AI Chat feature will be limited to underage users

Character.AI Chat feature – Platforms chatbots Halu’s popular AI called Character.AI brings many interesting features. Especially for those who want to imagine that they can chat with real characters or their favorite fictional characters.

Recently, the owner of this AI technology service announced a new policy regarding how its chat feature will have restrictions for those who are underage. Is that true?!

The Character.AI Chat feature has restrictions for underage users

Based on information from The Verge, the Character.AI service launched an internal “Age Assurance Model” system in support of their latest policy.

The model will classify a user’s age based on several factors, including the type of character they are talking to. Then these factors are combined with third party data or data on other sites.

New and old users will go through this model. If a user is marked as under 18, they will be automatically redirected to a teen-safe version of the app until the November 25 deadline.

For adult users mistakenly identified as minors, the company provides a verification option through a third-party site, Persona, which requires sensitive data such as the owner’s original identity card.

With this rule, young or underage users only have two hours per day to chat with AI characters. These restrictions will shrink to a full ban effective November 25.

Reasons for the New Policy

From the same source, Karandeep Anand as CEO of Character.AI considers this step to be “very, very brave” and they are trying to take a middle path considering the increasing legal and regulatory pressure from the Government.

Previously, the platform faced multiple lawsuits alleging negligence and deceptive trade practices, filed by parents who claimed their children were drawn into inappropriate or dangerous relationships with AI chatbots.

Even before this news was published, the US proposed a federal bill to prohibit the provision of AI companions to minors. Anand noted that less than 10 percent of the company’s user base self-reports being under 18 years old.

Despite the chat ban, teens are still allowed to access the site to review old chat history and use non-chat features, such as creating characters, videos and stories.

Character.AI also offered a “deep apology” to its teenage user base, admitting that most of them used the product “within the content rules.”

---

Also read other interesting Gamebrott information regarding Character.AI or other articles from Seno Triadi. For further information and other inquiries, you can contact us via author@gamebrott.com.