Subj : Character.AI levels up its chatbots with new games To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Tue Jan 21 2025 11:15:07 Character.AI levels up its chatbots with new games Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2025 11:07:32 +0000 Description: Character.AI adds new games to play with AI chatbots. FULL STORY ====================================================================== Character.AI, the chatbot for conversing with different AI characters, is offering a new activity for those looking to do more than just talk to its virtual personalities. The platform is testing games on its website and mobile app in case you want to play word games with Shakespeare and not just discuss sonnets. Subscribers and a growing number of free users can now play the initial two games, though if they go over well, more will likely be added. The two games are Speakeasy and War of Words. Both are designed to turn your friendly AI chats into competitive battles of wit and wordplay. In Speakeasy, the goal is to trick your chatbot into saying a specific word without using five banned words. Picture trying to make it say croissant without mentioning butter, French, or flaky. Its part strategy and part luck. Meanwhile, War of Words pits you in a verbal duel against your chosen character, with an impartial AI referee deciding who delivers the better arguments over five rounds. Think rap battles, but make it nerdy. To keep things neat, Character.AI prompts you to start a new chat for these games so your previous conversations with your favorite bot stay untainted. This means your deep philosophical discussion with the AI version of Aristotle wont be interrupted by the aftermath of losing a word battle to AI Napoleon. Just remember, most of your favorite copyrighted and trademarked characters aren't around to play with anymore. AI gamemasters The aim of the new games appears to be for Character.AI to bill itself as more of an entertainment hub and not just a home for chatbots. Users have already created games of their own, including text-based adventures and chess. Designing its own games gives the company more control and an opportunity to exploit its deeper knowledge of what the AI chatbots can do. Adding AI games might seem like a small step, but they point to where AI chatbot hubs may go in the future as people get over the initial wonder of basic interactions and look for something more engaging to do with them. Competitive wordplay with AI is much more enticing than just making small talk. The addition of games might also serve as a subtle shift in the conversation around Character.AI after the company felt compelled to release multiple rounds of new safety features. These safety features were mainly aimed at children , after the platform faced accusations that the AI chatbots were negatively impacting teenager's mental health. Instead of ersatz romance, people can now try to beat an AI in War of Words. You might also like Character.AI won't let its chatbots get romantic with teenagers anymore Why your favorite fictional AI friends are vanishing from Character.AI Character.ai lets you talk to your favorite (synthetic) people on the phone which isn't weird at all ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/character-ai-level s-up-chatbots-with-new-games --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .