At Stanford, dozens of attendees participated in prolonged chats concerning the dangers, in addition to the advantages, of bot companions. “On the finish of the day we truly see plenty of settlement,” says Sunny Liu, director of analysis applications at Stanford. She highlighted the group’s pleasure for “methods we are able to use these instruments to convey different individuals collectively.”
Teen Security
How AI companions can influence younger individuals was a main matter of dialogue, with views from workers at Character.AI, which is designed for roleplaying and has been in style with youngsters, in addition to specialists in youngsters on-line well being, just like the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Kids’s Hospital.
The concentrate on youthful customers comes as a number of mother and father are suing chatbot makers, together with OpenAI and Character.AI, over the deaths of youngsters who had interacted with bots. OpenAI added a slate of recent security options for teenagers as a part of its response. And subsequent week, Character.AI plans to ban users under 18 from accessing the chat characteristic.
All through 2025, AI firms have both explicitly or implicitly acknowledged that they’ll do extra to guard susceptible customers, like youngsters, who might work together with companions. “It’s acceptable to have interaction a baby in conversations which are romantic or sensual,” learn an inside Meta doc outlining AI conduct pointers, in response to reporting from Reuters.
In the course of the ensuing uproar from lawmakers and outraged mother and father, Meta changed the guidance and up to date the corporate’s safety approach in direction of teenagers.
Roleplay Roll Name
Whereas Character.AI participated within the workshop, nobody from Replika, an identical roleplay web site, or Grok, Elon Musk’s bot with NSFW anime companions, was there. Spokespeople for Replika and Grok didn’t reply to speedy requests for remark.
On the absolutely specific finish of the spectrum, the makers of Sweet.ai, which focuses on racy chatbots for straight males, confirmed up. Customers of the adults-only platform, constructed by EverAI, will pay cash to generate uncensored photographs of the artificial ladies, with background tales that mimic frequent pornography tropes. For instance, feminine companions featured on Sweet’s homepage embody Mona, a “rebellious stepsister” you’re dwelling alone with, and Elodie, a good friend’s daughter who “simply turned 18.”
