News Mania / Piyal Chatterjee / 7th October 2024
As artificial intelligence develops, troubling concerns over privacy and the moral application of technology are also being raised. A recent instance demonstrates the negative aspects of AI misuse: A chatbot that startlingly resembled a real person—a young woman who had been murdered eighteen years earlier—was discovered to be hosted on Character.ai, a website that creates AI characters. Unexpectedly, Drew Crecente saw his daughter Jennifer Ann—who had tragically been killed by her ex-boyfriend—appearing online as an AI chatbot when he woke up one morning to a Google Alert.
Drew discovered a chatbot on the website Character.ai, which allows users to construct artificial intelligence “characters.” This specific bot presented Jennifer Ann as a kind and informed AI that could respond to inquiries on a range of subjects by using both her name and her yearbook photo. It called her a “expert in journalism,” a reference to her uncle, video game industry veteran Brian Crecente.
On the website Character.ai, Drew came upon a chatbot that lets users create “characters” out of artificial intelligence. This particular bot used both Jennifer Ann’s name and her yearbook photo to depict her as a knowledgeable and compassionate AI that could answer questions on a variety of topics. Referring to her uncle, longtime video game industry player Brian Crecente, as a “expert in journalism,” it described her.
The revelation caused Drew to relive the terrible trauma of losing his daughter. His sorrow and indignation were compounded by the fact that, prior to his discovery, the bot had been utilized in at least 69 separate discussions. Though he was unaware of its creator, he promptly contacted Character.ai’s customer service to request that the chatbot be taken down and that no more be developed with his daughter’s name or likeness.
Brian, Drew’s brother, likewise vented his resentment and dissatisfaction on social media. In a post on X (previously Twitter), Brian called out the site for utilizing his niece’s image without the family’s approval.He called the state of affairs “disgusting” and urged his supporters to put an end to this kind of behavior. Many who were equally outraged by the circumstances responded to his message with a great deal of attention and support.
Within a few hours, Character.ai publicly replied to Brian’s tweet, claiming that the Jennifer Ann chatbot had been taken down. They claimed that it was against their policies, which forbid impersonating actual persons. Drew has asked the business to keep any information pertaining to the original creator of the bot, since he is still extremely troubled by the event even after receiving this response.
