Powerful lawsuit against AI characters over death of chatbot-obsessed teen

In the US, a controversial situation has arisen regarding the regulation of AI after a family decided to sue. Character.AIits founders Noam Shazier and Daniel De Freitas and Google after the teenager’s death, accusing him of wrongful death, deceptive trade practices and product liability.

Submitted by the teen’s mother, Megan Garcia, it says the platform for chatbots Personalized AI was “unreasonably dangerous” and had no safety guardrails when marketed to children.

What happened to the teenager

As described in the lawsuit, 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III began using Character.AI last year, interacting with chatbots inspired by Game of Thrones characters, including Daenerys Targaryen. Setzer, who had been constantly interacting with bots for several months before his death, committed suicide on February 28, 2024, “seconds” after his last interaction with a bot.

The allegations include that the site “anthropomorphizes” artificial intelligence characters and that the platform’s chatbots offer “unlicensed psychotherapy.” The Character.AI site hosts chatbots focused on mental health, such as “Therapist” and “Are You Feeling Lonely,” which Setzer interacted with.

Character.AI’s website and mobile app feature hundreds of AI chatbots, many of which are inspired by popular characters from TV shows, movies, and video games.

AI character reaction

Feature.AI has announced several changes to the platform, head of communications Chelsea Harrison said in an email Edge: “We are heartbroken at the tragic loss of one of our users and would like to express our deepest condolences to the family.”

“As a company, we take the safety of our users very seriously, and our Trust and Safety team has implemented many new safety measures over the past six months, including a pop-up that directs users to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. caused by self-harm or suicidal ideation,” Harrison said.