Is Character.AI Safe for Kids? Review and FAQ for Parents

Character.AI has only been around since 2022, so many people had never heard of it until a U.S. mother started legal proceedings against the company in late 2024. Her 14-year-old son, Sewell, took his own life after developing an unhealthy obsession with a virtual character chatbot he befriended on the platform. His mother wants Character AI to be held accountable for his death after the character abused and manipulated her son.

This was a stark wake-up call for parents whose kids already use the role-playing app. Was Sewell’s suicide a one-off tragedy, or is it a red flag that shouldn’t be ignored? In this article, we provide a Character AI review to help parents become more informed and better equipped to protect their kids from potential harm.

What is Character AI?

Character AI (also known as Characterai, Character.ai, and c.ai) is an AI-powered chatbot platform. Users can chat to existing characters or create their own characters for private or public use.

The platform harnesses AI to generate human-like responses, which can make it seem like users are really talking to them. Whether the characters are based on real people or totally invented, users can customize their back story, personality, and appearance, as well as generate content for them like stories or dialogues. This can be really exciting, especially when the characters is a well-known pop star, actor, sportsperson, gamer, social media influencer, politician, or historical figure.

Who uses Character AI?

Character AI has more than 20 million users globally each month, and 18 million chatbots have been created since it launched. The platform is predominantly utilized by a younger audience, especially Gen Z. As the figures below demonstrate, 76% of visitors are under 35 years old:

• 18- 24 years: 53.29%
• 25-34 years: 24.26%
• 35-44 years: 12.29%
• 45-54 years: 5.18%
• 55-64 years: 2.87%
• 65+ years: 2.12%

Character AI resonates with both males and females, and there is an almost equal gender split. The average user spends around 2 hours each day on the platform, but some people spend far longer interacting with the chatbots ¹ 1. https://www.demandsage.com/character-ai-statistics/ × .

How does Character AI work?

Character AI is powered by large language models (LLMs). This advanced technology processes large chunks of text to predict the words that are most likely to come next in sentences.

Although the technology the platform uses is complex, getting started on Character AI is an easy process. After setting up an account, users can either interact with existing characters—there are thousands to choose from on the platform—or create their own. When creating a new character, it’s possible to choose the level of visibility for that character: private, public, or unlisted (the latter means that anyone with the link can chat to it).

Users can also generate one or more personas of themselves to chat with different characters. An AI character called ‘Help create persona’ is available to help users invent personas based on the specific details they provide, such as ‘a teen gaming champion with glasses and curly hair who is outgoing and loves soccer’. Characters receive details of the persona so they can interact with the user as if they were that person.

Another popular feature on the platform is the chat room, where multiple characters can talk, meet, and socialize. When creating a chat room, users can admit private and/or public characters and set an optional topic for the room. This can be any subject at all, for example, ‘What’s your favorite MMORPG?’ but characters do sometimes stray off topic.

Is Character AI controlled by real people?

It’s easy to imagine that the characters must be controlled by humans because they reply and react in such a convincing way, but all the text responses are generated by AI.

However, there are teams of real people working behind the scenes, including UX researchers and software engineers who ensure the smooth running of the platform, and moderators who monitor public—but not private—chats (see ‘How safe is Character AI?’ below).

How safe is Character AI?

Since the tragic death of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer, many parents have been asking questions like, ‘What are the dangers of Character AI?’ and ‘Is Character AI safe for a 14 year old?’. In October 2024, Character AI released a community safety update, where it outlined new and improved safety features ² 2. https://blog.character.ai/community-safety-updates/ × :

• Reduced likelihood of under-18s coming across sensitive or suggestive material.
• Improved ways of detecting and intervening in content that violates the platform’s terms of service and community guidelines.
• Revised disclaimer on every chat to remind users that the characters are not real people.
• Notification posted when a user has been chatting on the platform for an hour.

Is it safe to make a Character AI account?

While Character AI has introduced these improved safety measures, parents are still wondering, ‘Is character AI chat safe?’ Here are some of the potential downsides of the platform:

Minimal age verification

The Character AI community guidelines state that users can only use the platform if they’re aged 13+ (in the U.S.) and 16+ (in EU countries). However, there’s no strict age verification in place. If younger kids try to gain access, they receive a notification that prevents them from doing so, but there’s nothing to stop them setting up an account if they lie about their age.

Lack of parental controls

There are no parental controls on the platform, so parents need to find other ways to monitor their children’s usage.

No moderation on direct messaging

Character AI does have real people as moderators, but they can only monitor what’s being said in public chats—not direct messaging between users—for inappropriate and harmful content. This is because direct messaging happens on other platforms, like Discord or Reddit.

Stranger danger

There is a feature that allows users to create a group chat between characters and human users. Currently, human users can only be invited to a group chat via a link, which reduces the risk of strangers accessing chats with young people. However, Character AI also has a community forum for sharing characters and conversations, and this could potentially expose teens to stranger danger if they’re invited to a group chat from the forum by a predator.

Blurred reality

Even though Character AI has updated the disclaimer on every chat to make it clearer that the characters aren’t real, many conversations are so convincing that it can be tricky—especially for impressionable teens—to differentiate between real and virtual relationships.

As a result, they may develop parasocial relationships and become obsessed with one or more characters. They may also struggle to distinguish fact from fiction, which can exacerbate the spread of misinformation.

Does Character AI allow NSFW content?

Character AI does not allow NSFW* content. In fact, there’s an NSFW filter on the platform to detect any sexually explicit conversations, images, or topics. However, no filter is completely robust, and there’s still a chance that under-18s could access inappropriate and graphic material.

NSFW stands for Not Safe For Work, which means it contains adult-only content.

How secure is Character AI?

The Character AI privacy policy acknowledges that no website or platform is 100% safe, and it therefore cannot guarantee the security of users’ information or communications. However, the platform has robust safeguards in place to protect the user data it collects.

Does Character.AI collect your data?

Yes, Character AI does collect users’ data. The type of information it collects and how the information is used are outlined in the platform’s privacy policy. So, how does Character AI take your information? Here’s a summary of the three main sources of data:

• Information that users provide directly (email address; username; payment details; and user-generated content such as chats, images, and characters).
• Information that Character AI collects automatically, including browser type, IP address, page views, access time, and how often the platform is accessed.
• Information gathered from other sources, like third-party social media sites and referrals from other users.

If Character AI discovers that anyone under the age of 13 (in the U.S.) or 16 (in EU countries) has provided personal information, it will close the account and delete their data, but may retain certain information for reasons described in the privacy policy.

Can CharacterAI staff see your chats?

Although conversations are private and other users cannot see them, chats are not encrypted. This means that Character AI staff can potentially access, review, edit, modify, and delete chats. According to its terms of service, this may be to provide and develop the platform or if any content violates the company’s rules or any applicable laws ³ 3. https://character.ai/tos × .

Safety tips parents

Yes, here are 5 tips to help parents keep young people safer on the platform:

1. Supervise your teen’s usage by regularly checking that they’re interacting with appropriate characters and users.
2. Remind them about the importance of not sharing any private or sensitive information, or personal images.
3. Agree a daily screen time limit so any Character AI sessions are balanced with schoolwork, socializing with friends and family, and other interests and activities.
4. Immediately report any character or user that’s posting threatening, harmful, explicit, or other inappropriate content on the platform.
5. Help your child find alternative hobbies where they can develop face-to-face connections and rediscover the joy of real life.

Need help?

At Game Quitters, we’re a trusted resource for parents who are concerned about their kids’ online activities. Over the last decade, we’ve worked with hundreds of families whose children are struggling with tech addiction.

Character AI is one of the latest platforms that’s becoming dangerously addictive. Its AI chatbots are providing a false sense of connection by saying exactly what lonely, anxious teens want to hear. But instead of filling the void, they’re making it bigger.

The platform isn’t just another app or game; it’s becoming a substitute for real-life relationships at a time when kids need human connections more than ever.

Our specialist coaching programs are designed to help individuals and families regain balance with technology. It’s not just about using Character AI less often; it’s about building a life full of passion and purpose that your teen no longer wants to escape from.

Get in touch today to book your gameplan strategy call. We’re used to dealing with young people who are in denial about their problematic tech use.