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 really see loads of settlement,” says Sunny Liu, director of analysis applications at Stanford. She highlighted the group’s pleasure for “methods we will use these instruments to deliver different folks collectively.”
Teen Security
How AI companions can affect younger folks was a major matter of debate, with views from staff at Character.AI, which is designed for roleplaying and has been standard with youngsters, in addition to consultants in youngsters on-line well being, just like the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Kids’s Hospital.
The give attention to youthful customers comes as a number of dad and mom are suing chatbot makers, together with OpenAI and Character.AI, over the deaths of kids 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 customers below 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 interact a baby in conversations which can be romantic or sensual,” learn an inside Meta doc outlining AI conduct pointers, in line with reporting from Reuters.
Throughout the ensuing uproar from lawmakers and outraged dad and mom, Meta modified the steering and up to date the corporate’s security strategy in the direction of teenagers.
Roleplay Roll Name
Whereas Character.AI participated within the workshop, nobody from Replika, the same roleplay website, or Grok, Elon Musk’s bot with NSFW anime companions, was there. Spokespeople for Replika and Grok didn’t reply to fast requests for remark.
On the totally express finish of the spectrum, the makers of Sweet.ai, which makes a speciality of racy chatbots for straight males, confirmed up. Customers of the adults-only platform, constructed by EverAI, pays cash to generate uncensored photos of the artificial girls, with background tales that mimic frequent pornography tropes. For instance, feminine companions featured on Sweet’s homepage embody Mona, a “rebellious stepsister” you’re residence alone with, and Elodie, a buddy’s daughter who “simply turned 18.”
