According to the latest disclosure by Karandeep Anand, CEO of Character.ai, users spend an astonishing 80 minutes per day chatting with AI virtual characters on its platform. This data makes it a new major time consumer, rivaling TikTok (95 minutes) and YouTube (84 minutes), and far exceeding Instagram (70 minutes). This phenomenon also provides strong evidence for Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, to make personalized chatbots a core strategy.
Character.ai currently has 20 million monthly active users, half of whom are female, and the user base is mainly composed of Generation Z and younger groups. Although the platform is very popular among young people, it has also faced criticism. Many people are concerned that such AI applications may foster emotional dependence among young users and even cause serious mental health problems.
In the United States, lawsuits against the platform for allegedly harming children are ongoing, including one linked to a suicide case. In response to the controversy, Character.ai has taken measures to provide separate models for users under 18 and issue warnings about excessive use.
This phenomenon not only reveals the huge potential of AI virtual characters in attracting user attention, but also serves as a warning about their ethics, safety, and impact on minors.
