‘You will have AI friends’: Character.ai bets on companionship chatbots
Company argues persona-based chatbots will aid real-life interactions but critics say they create dependency
Company argues persona-based chatbots will aid real-life interactions but critics say they create dependency

First, tech companies usurped the meaning of ‘friends’ and ‘connection’ — now they are coming for ‘companionship’

Tech companies are harnessing the language of relationships to harvest data

OpenAI, DeepMind and Anthropic tackle the growing issue of models producing responses that are too sycophantic

Research shows large language models have developed the ability to powerfully influence users

Stanford researchers analysing 391,000 messages warn conversational technology may reinforce psychological vulnerabilities

Decision follows growing public and regulatory scrutiny over safety of the technology for young users