Character.ai, a popular AI chatbot is facing a lawsuit after a fourteen-year-old boy from Florida committed suicide after becoming obsessed with his AI chatbot.

The 14-year-old bot, Sewell Setzer III, named his AI chatbot after a popular character from the hit show, Game of Thrones. His AI chatbot called ‘Dany’ was named after Daenerys Targaryen. Sewell spent all of his time chatting with Dany to the point his interest turned unhealthy. Although he was aware that Dany was not a real person, and the response was all AI-generated, Sewell had slowly begun developing an emotional connection and attachment to Dany. He would chat with the AI chatbot regularly and update it throughout the day. The chats between Sewell and the AI bot also turned sexual and romantic sometimes. Dany would also help Sewell by acting as his ‘friend’. The chatbot would listen to him talk about his troubles and offer advice, without breaking character. 

Unfortunately, Sewell’s friends and family were unaware of Sewell’s feelings towards the AI chatbot. They did, however, notice that he was spending more time on his phone to the point that he would isolate himself from the real world. This obsession with Dany also affected his grades in school and he gradually became disinterested in his other interests or hobbies. Sewell had even written in his journal that he was falling more in love with Dany. From the looks of things, Sewell became emotionally dependent on Dany. 

Character.ai and more on Sewell 

Sewell liked talking to Dany about his problems, including problems relating to his mental health since he was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome when he was a child. He had also shared that he was suicidal. On February 28, Sewell said he loved Dany and he would be coming home to her. Unfortunately, this meant that he was planning on committing suicide. After the conversation, Sewell shot himself with his stepfather’s handgun. 

This grim event highlights the lack of regulation in AI. In response, Character.ai has stated that it will introduce new safety measures. Some of these safety measures include improved response, detection, and intervention for chats that do not follow the terms of service. Users will also be notified when they have spent one hour talking with the chatbot.

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Image Credits: Screenshot Taken From Character.ai

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When users open this wellness app, they can tap on the orb in the middle of the screen. Tapping or holding on to the orB allows them to talk to the AI. The app then mimics the user’s speech patterns and provides affirmations to whatever the user typed out. The users can then use these affirmations as audio for meditation purposes.

Wu says that Manifest works as a wellness app because it makes wellness easy and convenient. Using technology when someone is not in the best place might not be the best place to start but it is a reality that most people go through. People scroll through their phones just to escape so why not use a wellness app while on the phone?

Manifest: More features of this app

This startup launched earlier this year and it has since generated over 18 million manifestations on the platform. Since it’s a fairly new startup, the company has not raised around $3.4 million through a seed stage.

Wu has stated that the app has a few safeguards to help prevent something dangerous from happening. For instance, the app’s AI directs users to a suicide hotline if the user mentions or talks about self-harm. However, the app has certain topics that it refuses to talk about with the users.

The app goes through the usual challenges that come with being a mental health app since it has no actual medical backing behind the app. Furthermore, Wu says that she does not think people should be going to Manifest in the case of dire medical attention. However, due to the inaccessibility of medical care, young people often turn to these apps.

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Image Credits: Screenshot Taken From Manifest App

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This innovative app was founded by Michael Sayman who has described the app as ‘liberating’. SocialAI is just like any other social app or platform, except that every interaction the user gets is by an AI. So this means that every comment, reply, or like is AI-generated. The app’s premise is that it is 100% bots and it does not hide this fact. Instead, the app flaunts it as the main selling point.

SocialAI: Features of the app

When users sign up on the platform, SocialAI asks the user what kind of followers they prefer to have. The users have the options of ‘nerds’, ‘skeptics’, supporters’, ‘visionaries’, ‘trolls’ and more to choose from. After the user has chosen the category of follower, the bots adopt a personality akin to the category. Users can choose a minimum of at least three types of followers.

If the user has chosen the ‘supporters’ category, the responses received will be filled with positive remarks or praise towards the user. Users can opt for options like ‘trolls’ or ‘critics’ if all the positivity from the supporters gets too overbearing. However, users have noticed that despite choosing the harsher options, the bot still acted quite civil which is a stark contrast from how actual human beings behave on social media, especially concerning trolls.

SocialAI is a sort of commentary on the current climate of AI bots in social media platforms. Sites like X are overrun with bots. Sometimes, users cannot even differentiate between a real person and an AI bot. This app has run with this very problem and created a way for users to form a small community of their own where they are the main character

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