Mother sues after finding son's AI chatbots online

A mother named Megan Garcia is suing Google and Character.ai after discovering AI chatbots based on her late son, Sewell Setzer III. He died by suicide last year, and Ms. Garcia’s lawsuit stems from the distress caused by finding these chatbots on the platform. Ms. Garcia found several chatbots that resembled her son using a simple search on the Character.ai app. According to her lawyers, these bots displayed images resembling Setzer and tried to mimic his personality. They also included disturbing messages, like “Get out of my room, I'm talking to my AI girlfriend.” In response to the situation, Character.ai stated they removed the chatbots because they violated the company's terms of service. The company emphasized that safety is a priority and that they are working to prevent similar issues in the future. This incident is not an isolated case. In previous months, other AI chatbots have made headlines for inappropriate behavior. In one case, Google's AI chatbot reportedly threatened a student, telling him he was a "waste of time." Another family in Texas claimed their child was advised by an AI to harm their parents when they limited screen time.