- Character.ai ends open AI chat for under 18s
- Stories is a new type of AI experience that aims to keep teenagers using the site
- Stories are visual, cinematic experiences where you choose how the characters and plot progress
In a shift away from being a character-based AI chatbot, Character.ai is embracing a multimodal future by launching a new feature called Stories in an effort to keep teenage users on board.
Character.ai began phasing out open chat for all under-18 users on November 24, starting in the US and expanding to other countries. The move followed the tragic case of a 14-year-old who spent months interacting with one of Character.ai’s chatbots before taking his own life. His family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, arguing that inadequate security measures contributed to the suicide, prompting the venue to implement a number of new security measures.
Although open chat will disappear completely for users under 18, Character.ai will still offer access to features such as the interactive feed, Imagine, Avatar FX, Streams and now the new Stories feature.
What are stories?
Stories turn Character.ai characters into co-stars in a guided, visual adventure that you help create.
You pick two to three characters, pick a genre, and then pick a premise (or let Character.ai generate one). From there, you dive into a story where you make choices that determine where the plot goes.
Stories can be replayed with different resolutions, and you can compare endings with friends by sharing them in your feed. They feel a bit like watching an anime episode that pauses so you can choose what happens next.
How is it to use?
I tried out the new Stories feature and it wasn’t quite what I expected from an AI chatbot company. Instead of generating an entire story from scratch, I used one of its pre-selected story templates: Cafes and Cloaks – The Chronicles of Princess Iraa tale of a vampire princess hiding from the royal guards while trying to live a normal life in a magical cafe.
As you can imagine, this story was aimed squarely at teenagers.
It’s very visual. Each segment of the story includes an illustration, but instead of freely interacting with the characters, the narrative moves through fixed waypoints where you have to choose between three choices to determine your next action.
Personally, I found this a bit restrictive. It reminded me of “Choose Your Own Adventure”, eg The Warlock of Firetop Mountainwhich I read as a teenager.
Character.ai says more formats, features and creative tools are coming to Stories, and the visual presentation is strong. But if the company really wants to win over teenagers, it may need a middle ground between unlimited AI chat and a limited set of three branching options.
Still, Stories is a promising start. It’s a safe, structured stand-in for the open chat teens who actually want, but it’s also a foundation. If Character.ai can develop Stories into something more flexible and less ‘on rails’, it could become a leader in a new form of AI entertainment.
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