okay, problem.
My condolences to the family that lost their son to suicide. My heart goes out to them and I absolutely understand the pain, anger and fear losing someone important to you can bring.
With that being said, Character AI should not be sued.
A fourteen year old should not be having conversations of a sexual manner with an AI chatbot, or of any manner really.
It’s not the kids fault. I’m not saying this at all. It’s the parents’ fault.
I’d never want to rub salt in the wound of a grieving family but parental controls exist for this reason. It’s 100% the parents’ responsibility to protect their child from whatever they may see or do on the internet. Personally, I believe that there is a lot of context we are missing and to say that it’s a chatbot’s or a company’s fault is misleading. Parents, TALK to your children. Teenagers don’t kill themselves because it’s fun. There’s bigger issues if your child commits suicide and by suing a company you are NOT TAKING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR NEGLECTING YOUR CHILD’S SAFETY ON THE INTERNET.
Character AI’s censorship has been strict and limiting to a lot of users. This has been slightly irritating but never a problem. Character AI does not advertise itself as family friendly. To claim that it’s an app’s fault for existing because your child used it is absurd.
Cigarettes are not banned just because children might have access to them. Porn is not banned just because children might have access to it. Alcohol is not banned just because children might have access to it.
From the moment a child is born up until they have the emotional and physical maturity to consume anything that may put them in danger it’s your responsibility as a parent to keep them away from it.
People’s content that they worked hard on is being shadowbanned. Any bot that includes themes that the algorithm believes is not appropriate gets deleted and does not show up on the search bar. What happened to the family is tragic and I am in no way comparing it to losing a few bots but in this way your are simply ruining somebody’s hobby, safe space, outlet or way of connecting with their fandom.
Parents, take care of your children. You wouldn’t let your teenager roam in the streets without supervision, it may end up in a tragedy. So don’t let them roam on the internet without supervision, it may end up in a tragedy.