Risks
Character.AI
A chatbot in the role-play and companion-style category, where people talk with fictional characters and a parent often cannot read the chat.
- Parents
- Policymakers and staff
What parents should know
Role-play and companion-style chat means an ongoing conversation with a character, not a homework step that ends. Character.AI is one app parents search in that category. It is not built as a family product with a parent account. Common Sense Media's 2025 risk assessment rated social AI companions an unacceptable risk for anyone under 18.
On this page
What is Character.AI?
Role-play chat lets someone talk to a character: a fictional person, a game figure, or a personality another user wrote. Companion-style chat is the version built to feel like a relationship that continues, rather than help that stops when the task is done. Character.AI is a widely used example of that category. Parents look up the brand. The thing to understand is the category.
These apps often have no family dashboard. A teen can keep a long thread that a parent cannot open. That is a design of the category, and it is why this term sits with the other companion entries. Ask what the app is for, and whether you can see the conversations.
Why Character.AI matters
Teens use these tools for company, advice, and role-play, often in an account a parent cannot open. The chat can be intimate, and there is no family dashboard sitting next to it. You will not see a transcript unless the product gives you one.
The calm response is not a ban you cannot enforce. Ask what they use, whether you can see it, and what they would do if the bot said something frightening. If the answer is that you cannot see the chats, that is the fact to weigh.
How it shows up in practice
- A teen has a long-running chat with a fictional character in an account the parent cannot open.
- A parent asks to see the app and learns there is no transcript view for adults.
- A family rule distinguishes an assistant for homework from a bot whose job is to keep the conversation going.
- A distressing chat gets a real person and a crisis line, not another hour with the character.
How HeyOtto helps
Character.AI-style products are built for open-ended roleplay that can run like a private ongoing relationship. Otto is parent-provisioned for ages 8–18, and a parent can read the chats. Topic limits are per child. If a child shows distress, HeyOtto sends a real-time alert and shows crisis resources in the chat. HeyOtto does not auto-contact emergency services.
- Parents can read the chats in the parent dashboard.
- Topic limits and alerts are set per child.
- Under 13, verifiable parental consent is part of setup.
For families
Try freeFAQs
Is Character.AI made for children?
It is a general chatbot for open-ended character chat, in the role-play and companion-style category. The Common Sense line in the summary above is the research judgment this page uses. If a child uses this kind of app, assume you may not have a parent transcript.
Is this page only about one brand?
The brand is here because parents search it. The behavior is role-play and companion-style chat, which shows up in more than one app. Read the companion chatbot entry for the category. The Common Sense risk line above is the one finding this page repeats, and the report itself is linked under Sources.
What should I do if my child already uses it?
Ask what they use it for and whether you can see the chats. Offer a tool where you can read the transcript. If a conversation scared them, stay with them. In the United States, 988 is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Do not leave a frightening chat to the bot.
Is every chatbot a companion?
No. A companion-style product is built to be someone to talk to. An assistant is built to help with a task and stop. The design shows up in whether the bot asks you to come back, and in whether a parent can read the chat.
Sources
Last reviewed September 26, 2026. This entry is reviewed twice a year.