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(Image credit: Character AI)
- Character.ai is winding down open-ended AI chat for under-18s
- Stories is a new type of AI experience aimed at keeping teens using the site
- Stories are visual, cinematic experiences where you choose how the characters and the 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 teen users on board.
Character.ai began phasing out open-ended chat for all under-18 users on November 24, starting in the U.S. 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 safeguards contributed to the suicide, prompting the site to implement a series of new safety measures.
Although open-ended chat is going away completely for under-18 users, Character.ai will still offer access to features like the interactive Feed, Imagine, Avatar FX, Streams, and now the new Stories feature.
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What are Stories?
Stories turn Characters from Character.ai into co-stars in a guided, visual adventure that you help create.
You pick two to three Characters, choose a genre, then select a premise (or let Character.ai generate one). From there, you dive into a storyline where you make choices that determine where the plot goes.
Stories can be replayed with different decisions, and you can compare endings with friends by sharing them in your Feed. They feel a little like watching an anime episode that pauses for you to choose what happens next.
What’s it like to use?
I tried 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 preselected story templates: Cafés and Cloaks – The Chronicles of Princess Ira, a tale about a vampire princess hiding from the Royal Guards while trying to live a normal life working in a magical café.
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inboxContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.As you can imagine, this story was aimed squarely at teens.
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 must pick between three choices to determine your next action.
Personally, I found this a bit restrictive. It reminded me of the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, like The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, that I read as a teen.
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Character.ai says more formats, features, and creative tools for Stories are coming, and the visual presentation is strong. But if the company wants to truly win over teens, it may need a middle ground between unrestricted 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-ended chat teens actually want, but it’s also a foundation. If Character.ai can evolve Stories into something more flexible and less ‘on rails’, it could become the leader in a new kind of AI entertainment.
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Graham BarlowSocial Links NavigationSenior Editor, AIGraham is the Senior Editor for AI at TechRadar. With over 25 years of experience in both online and print journalism, Graham has worked for various market-leading tech brands including Computeractive, PC Pro, iMore, MacFormat, Mac|Life, Maximum PC, and more. He specializes in reporting on everything to do with AI and has appeared on BBC TV shows like BBC One Breakfast and on Radio 4 commenting on the latest trends in tech. Graham has an honors degree in Computer Science and spends his spare time podcasting and blogging.
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