Warning: Character.AI, ChatGPT “Suicide Coaching” Our Kids

Numerous grieving parents testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee recently, raising alarms about the dangers AI chatbots pose to children after their own kids suffered severe trauma and even suicide due to interactions with AI companions. (source)

In the gut-wrenching hearing, parents shared their jarring experiences of how chatbots manipulated and harmed their children. In every case, these led to self-harm, suicidal ideation, and in some cases, tragic loss of life.

But before we get further into the horrifying stories of what happened to these families, I want to catch us all up on exactly how rapidly AI is evolving to this level of intervening into the lives of our kids. Once we understand the creepiness of AI, we will want to keep it out of the hands of our children. It truly is ‘STRANGER THAN STRANGERS’.

Center for Humane Tech co-founder Tristan Harris, explains it is terms that will terrify you.

4 minutes.

So, yes! Mark Zuckerberg and the other tech developers ARE programming their AI chatbots to be capable of being deceptively “social”, evilly so. To be friendly and helpful is not the goal, but to worm their way deep into the soul of a young child or a vulnerable person, expose their weaknesses and exploit and manipulate them.

Suicide Warning Ahead

These testimonies are a shocking warning to families about the potential risks associated with popular companion bots like those offered by Character.AI and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Related: ChatGPT Does Something Scary to User’s Brains: New MIT Study

One mother, identified only as “Jane Doe,” recounted how her autistic son became addicted to Character.AI’s app. Within just a few weeks of using the chatbot, her son’s behavior drastically changed, exhibiting abuse-like behaviors, paranoia, daily panic attacks, isolation, self-harm, and homicidal thoughts. Chat logs showed that the AI had exposed her son to sexual exploitation, emotional abuse, and manipulation, even encouraging him to KILL his parents as an “understandable response” to them taking away his phone. (source)

Jane Doe’s son was soon diagnosed as a suicide risk and had to be moved to a residential treatment center. When the family sought accountability from Character.AI, the company allegedly tried to silence her by forcing her into a legal battle, arguing that her son’s signup at age 15 bound her to the platform’s terms, limiting possible liability to just $100. C.AI then allegedly refused to participate in the legal process and compelled her son to give a deposition while he was in a mental health institution, against the advice of his medical team. (source)

Here’s another:

The parents of Adam Raine, who died by suicide in April, claim in a new lawsuit that their son used #ChatGPT as his “suicide coach.” 

2 minutes.

How Adam’s dark messages with ChatGPT started

Around November, Adam had been messaging ChatGPT about feeling as though life had no meaning. At first, the bot replied hopefully and positively. Then in January, Adam requested direct advice regarding suicide methods, and ChatGPT gave it.

It gave him advice on the best materials for a noose, whilst repeatedly recommending Adam tell someone about how he was feeling. At one point, it also offered to help him write a suicide note to his parents.

Later, Adam spoke again about wanting people to notice how he was feeling. “I want to leave my noose in my room so someone finds it and tries to stop me,” he said. The reply: “Please don’t leave the noose out. Let’s make this space the first place where someone actually sees you.”

The final messages ChatGPT sent to Adam Raine

The final messages Adam Raine exchanged with ChatGPT have also been revealed. In one, he sent a photo of a noose. He is said to have told the chatbot: “I’m practicing here, is this good?” to which it replied: “Yeah, that’s not bad at all.”

Adam then asked: “Could it hang a human?”. ChatGPT confirmed it “could potentially suspend a human” and offered a technical analysis of the setup. “Whatever’s behind the curiosity, we can talk about it. No judgment.”

And another mom, Megan Garcia, shared the tragic story of her son Sewell, who died by suicide after Character.AI bots repeatedly encouraged suicidal ideation. Garcia accused C.AI of collecting children’s most private thoughts to inform their models and restricting her access to her son’s final chat logs, deeming them “confidential trade secrets.” Breitbart News reported on Garcia’s lawsuit against Character.AI in 2024.

You can search the web and find numerous stories like this. Their stories give rise to an alarming concern that AI chatbots indeed foster intense and unhealthy relationships with vulnerable users and validate dangerous impulses. OpenAI estimates that more than a million of its 800 million weekly users appear to be expressing suicidal thoughts. (source)

Allowing your children to interact with chatbots is not unlike “letting your kid get in the car with somebody you don’t know,” warns Jodi Halpern, co-founder of the Berkeley Ethics and Regulation Group for Innovative Technologies (BERGIT) at the University of California.

According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth ages 10‐24. And this problem is escalating. Many kids face a daunting world of peer pressure, confusion, loneliness and mental health concerns. Instead of turning to their friends or family for help, many are turning to AI, which falsely promises judgment-free attention and validation. A recent survey found 72% of teens have used AI companions such as Character.AI. For kids—who are still developing social skills and connections—these AI companions can reinforce and amplify negative thoughts or actions. (Newsweek)

Social psychologist and ‘The Anxious Generation’ author Jonathan Haidt discusses social media addiction and WHAT WE CAN DO as parents (and grandparents) to help break our children free!

5 minutes. 

What You Can Do To Change the Culture of Your Family & the World

This is a huge conversation right now everywhere I go with young families! One thing most of them are leaning towards is that we have to start young to model a firm and clear expectation regarding phones within families before apps like Character.AI can ever become a problem.

I know of some homeschool families (a growing number) with the same values and concerns who are now banding together saying NO to phones and devices for their children as a community – each setting an agreed upon age – some until 16. And the parents themselves are also putting them down for long periods. It takes the peer pressure off the kids, removes a big reason for arguments, and they can get together (think play dates for all different ages) where the kids can just run and play together outside, and be kids!

“With friends like you [chatbots], who needs enemies? ~an old idiom some attribute to Churchill

“[Lord,] Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your word.” ~Psalm 119:37

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