Ofcom warns tech firms after chatbots imitate Brianna Ghey and Molly Russell.

  • 2024-11-20 08:00:00
  • The Guardian

Some people, unfortunately, cannot find rest even in death. This is the case of Brianna Ghey, a young transgender girl victim of a hate crime in September 2023, and Molly Russell, a 14-year-old victim of the dangerous influence of social media on the psyche of young people.  Both have returned to the centre of media attention following yet another misuse of artificial intelligence.

There is a famous service based on the aforementioned technology, Character.AI, which allows users to create digital personalities inspired by their favourite fictional characters, so that they can chat with them. Unfortunately, the service in question was used to create two personalities inspired by the victims mentioned above.

Following this disgraceful incident, Ofcom (Office of Communications) announced that any content from chatbots posing as real people, or fictional characters, could be subject to the state's new digital laws.