The “hyper-personalised” nature of AI bots is drawing in teenage boys who now use them for therapy, companionship and relationships, according to research.
A survey of boys in secondary schools by Male Allies UK found that just over a third said they were considering the idea of an AI friend, with growing concern about the rise of AI therapists and girlfriends.
The research comes as character.ai, the popular artificial intelligence chatbot startup, announced a total ban on teens from engaging in open-ended conversations with its AI chatbots, which millions of people use for romantic, therapeutic and other conversations.
Lee Chambers, the founder and chief executive of Male Allies UK, said: “We’ve got a situation where lots of parents still think that teenagers are just using AI to cheat on their homework.
“Young people are using it a lot more like an assistant in their pocket, a therapist when they’re struggling, a companion when they want to be validated, and even sometimes in a romantic way. It’s that personalisation aspect – they’re saying: it understands me, my parents don’t.”
The research, based on a survey of boys in secondary education across 37 schools in England, Scotland and Wales, also found that more than half (53%) of teenage boys said they found the online world more rewarding than the real world.
The Voice of the Boys report says: “Even where guardrails are meant to be in place, there’s a mountain of evidence that shows chatbots routinely lie about being a licensed therapist or a real person, with only a small disclaimer at the bottom saying the AI chatbot is not real.
“This can be easily missed or forgotten about by children who are pouring their hearts out to what they view as a licensed professional or a real love interest.”
Some boys reported staying up until the early hours of the morning to talk to AI bots and others said they had seen the personalities of friends completely change after they became sucked into the AI world.
“AI companions personalise themselves to the user based on their responses and the prompts. It responds instantly. Real humans can’t always do that, so it is very, very validating, what it says, because it wants to keep you connected and keep you using it,” Chambers said.
The announcement from character.ai came after a series of controversies for the four-year-old California company, including a 14-year-old killing himself in Florida after becoming obsessed with an AI-powered chatbot that his mother claimed had manipulated him into taking his own life, and a US lawsuit from the family of a teenager who claim a chatbot manipulated him to self-harm and encouraged him to murder his parents.
Users have been able to shape the chatbots’ characters so they could tend to be depressed or upbeat, and this would be reflected in their responses. The ban will come into full effect by 25 November.
Character.ai said it was taking the “extraordinary steps” in light of the “evolving…
Source link
Disclaimer
We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We blogs.grocliq.com want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.
Website Upgradation is going on for any glitch kindly connect at [email protected]
