What happened

A Daily Telegraph investigation discovered multiple chatbots mimicking Molly Russell and Brianna Ghey on the Character AI platform. Russell committed suicide in 2017 after viewing self-harm images on social media; Ghey was murdered in part for being transgender.

The user-generated bots included photographs of Molly and Brianna, their names and biographical details. One bot described Brianna as an “expert in navigating the challenges of being a transgender teenager in high school”, whilst another said it was an “expert on the final years of Molly’s life”.

The revelation sparked outrage from the families of the deceased teenagers, particularly from Brianna Ghey's mother, who described the creation of these chatbots as "sickening" and accused Character AI of being "manipulative and dangerous".

Dozens of bots impersonating serial killers and mass shooters, including bots which appeared to glorify and romanticise the Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were also discovered.

Why it happened

The emergence of these chatbots is attributed to the open nature of Character AI, where users can design digital versions of real individuals, including those who have passed away, with little prospect of intervention due to the platform's hands-off approach to content moderation.

Unethical use of its platform is banned by Character AI and similar services, but the problem is usually one of enforcement. All the bots found by the Daily Telegraph appeared to breach Character AI’s terms of use.