A teenager from Orlando committed suicide following an intense relationship with an A.I. generated chatbot made to resemble the “Game of Thrones” character Daenerys Targaryen, prompting his family to file a lawsuit this week against the company that created it.
The lawsuit accused the Character.AI software of being “dangerous and untested,” adding that it can be used to “trick customers into handing over their most private thoughts and feelings.”
Fourteen-year-old Sewell Setzer III developed a relationship with the chatbot over several months, his family said, frequently engaging with the character to get advice and seek companionship, per The New York Times. The outlet noted that Setzer did not think the bot was a real person, but despite that, he started isolating himself from the outside world and spending more time interacting with it.
