Character.AI is a website and app that lets users create and interact with AI chatbots. This service offers a range of chatbots based on fictional characters and real individuals, including living and deceased ones, such as Vladimir Putin, Einstein, Elon Musk, and Mario. Users can ask these bots for advice, seek research assistance or simply have a light-hearted conversation with them. Also, people can create their own chatbots for private one-on-one conversations or to chat with others.
Character.AI was founded by Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, former Google engineers who built the company’s conversational chatbot technology. Following their departure, a Google staffer claimed the AI project they worked on was sentient. The main service is free to use, and users can find chatbots by searching or browsing through categories such as games, movies and TV, comedy, famous people, and religion.
The service became the second-most popular AI chat website in May with 281.4 million visits, a 62.5% increase from the previous month, according to data from SimilarWeb. This rise in popularity can be attributed to its playful take on generative AI, which sets it apart from other user-generated content websites.
Creating an account is easy, with the option to sign up using an email address or Google or social media accounts. Once signed up, users can interact with chatbots, and their conversations will be saved in the chats tab on the web and desktop. Some bots generate images to accompany their texts.
To create a bot, users must follow simple instructions, such as giving the character a name, profile photo, and description, and choose whether the bot can generate images. Before completing the process, users must indicate if the bot is to be kept private or made public.
Users should note that chatbots may hallucinate, which means they may misinterpret what users say. The website reminds users that everything characters say is made up, so users should take care when relying on the information provided.
Overall, Character.AI offers a fun and user-friendly experience for chatbot enthusiasts, with its easy-to-use platform that is becoming increasingly popular among users.
