Chatbot Based on Teenage Murder Victim Creates More Trouble for Character AI

Responding to complaints, the chatbot network Character AI took down a bot Wednesday that had assumed the likeness of a young murder victim.

Launched in 2022 amid the surging generative AI craze, Character AI lets users create and interact with AI-powered characters. While the majority of these characters are fictional personas, a number of the chatbots are based on real celebrities and figures, including entertainer Nicki Minaj, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and former US President Donald Trump.

An anon who called himself “JustinAyers1” had created the “JenniferAnn Crecente AI” chatbot and described it as being a “knowledgeable and friendly AI character who can provide information on a wide range of topics, including video games, technology, and pop culture.” He also uploaded a photo of the dead girl to make it clear who he was targeting.

Brian Crecente, Jennifer’s uncle—as well as the founder of Kotaku and co-founder of Polygon, both gaming sites—was tipped to the existence of the bot via a Google Alert. Enraged, he complained to the platform and tweeted about it: “Character AI is using my murdered niece as the face of a video game AI without her dad's permission,” Crecente wrote on Blue Sky and Twitter. “He is very upset right now. I can't imagine what he's going through.”

Jennifer Crecente was shot and killed in February 2006. Justin Crabbe, her boyfriend at the time, pleaded guilty to killing her, claiming it was part of a suicide-murder pact. However, lawyers disputed that claim, and Crabbe is serving 35 years in prison. He is eligible for parole later this year.

Despite the similarity in the first name of the bot creator and the murderer, Brian Crecente said he doubted the bot was created by an angry gamer trying to troll him.

“I don't think it had anything to do with me,” he told Decrypt. “My brother runs a charity in Jen's name and part of that charity is to create games for good. So maybe that's how it linked the two. I'm not sure.”

After he and Jennifer Ann’s Group, a non-profit aimed at combating teen dating violence, complained to Character AI, and an inquiry by Decrypt, Character AI took down the chatbot. It also appeared to have suspended the account of the creator.

“Character.AI has policies against impersonation, and the Character using Ms. Crecente's name violates our policies,” a Character.AI spokesperson told Decrypt. “We are deleting it immediately and will examine whether further action is warranted.”

This is not the first time the platform has been taken to task. In May, the family of F1 racing legend Michael Schumacher won its lawsuit against the German weekly magazine Die Aktuelle which used the Character AI platform to create an “interview” with the champion.