IBL News | New York
Character.AI unveiled a new suite of multi-modal and multimedia features this week to engage with and create Characters.
These enhancements include the AvatarFX video-generation model, which allows for the creation of up to five videos per day. Users upload a photo that serves as the basis for the video clip, select a voice, and write out the dialogue for the character.
Users can also turn these videos into Scenes and Streams, which enable users to create videos featuring their characters and then share them on a new social feed.
Experts criticized these deployments, saying that Character.AI’s multimedia offerings expand the potential for these products to be abused.
Techcrunch wrote, “Character.AI has a track record of abuse on its platform; parents have filed lawsuits against the company, claiming chatbots attempted to convince their children to self-harm, to kill themselves, or to kill their parents. One 14-year-old boy died by suicide after he was encouraged to do so by a Character.AI bot, with whom he had developed an unhealthy, obsessive relationship.”
Character.AI responds that it watermarks each video, although bad actors can circumvent this safeguard. “Our goal is to provide an engaging space that fosters creativity while maintaining a safe environment for all,” Character.AI said in its blog post.
