Protect & Prevent - Part 3: What you need to know about Teens, Character AI and Chatbots

(The podcast may contain sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised.)

**IF YOU KNOW A TEENAGER WHO IS USING CHARACTER AI OR OTHER CHARACTER BASED CHAT BOT AND YOU HAVE NOT USED IT – YOU MUST HEAR THIS PODCAST**

Multiple research reports indicate that more than HALF of U.S. teenagers use Character AI or other character based chatbot daily, most often on their cell phone. Most adults are completely oblivious about how character chatbots work.

Besides Character.AI, there are apps like Chai/AI, Anima/AI, TavernAI and Replika.

Users create personas like celebrities, historical characters or design their own characters. Character AI is different from ChatGPT and other AI applications. Character AI can detect emotions from your input and respond, adjusting their tone based on what you say.

Many young users interviewed indicated they use the chat bot because they are lonely or have social issues and turned to chatbots because they felt it was safer. In our opinion, nothing could be further from the truth.

The Million Kids team has spent hundreds of hours researching the impact of interactive character bots once they saw that these app companies are being sued by parents of teens who took their own lives after interacting with these bots. We have very grave concerns about anyone under the age of 18 using these apps.

As our research team interacted with the top ten characters on Character AI we found the most popular are related to sorcery or character attitudes degrading the user. Language used often included “bow down to me you fool”, with over 393 Million interactions, Alice the Bully, or lets consult our crystal ball.

Parents, teachers, pastors, this is an important educational discussion. Please find out if a child you might influence is using Character AI as a means of escaping reality. Ask them to share the app with you and then get involved in a meaningful discussion related to self-worth, defining values, and how we are influenced by outsiders. Our suggestion is that working together, finding alternative activities that are much more wholesome, and builds self esteem and REAL character. This app is dangerous to kids who are easily influenced or do not have the maturity to delineate bot relationships from reality.