14-year-old who 'fell in love' with AI chatbot dies by suicide
In the U.S., it is alleged that a 14-year-old boy died by suicide after falling in love with an AI chatbot. The family has filed a lawsuit against the company.
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In an incident that occurred in the U.S. state of Florida in February 2024, a mother alleged that her 14-year-old son 'took his own life after becoming emotionally attached' to an AI chatbot.
The mother, Megan Garcia, filed a lawsuit against the AI chatbot company Character.AI, accusing it of 'negligence, wrongful death, and deceptive trade practices.' The mother claimed that her son interacted with a chatbot every night and had 'fallen in love' with it before his death.
The mother of the boy, who allegedly used the AI robot—which chatted based on the character Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones—since April 2023, stated that she did not know the AI was 'creating such human emotions and feelings and speaking like a human.'
It was reported that the 14-year-old was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome as a child and was diagnosed with anxiety and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder earlier this year. According to the lawsuit filed against the AI firm, the child died by suicide at the age of 14, and it is alleged that in his final message to the chatbot, he told the AI that he 'loved it and would come home,' to which the AI replied, 'please come back.'
COMPANY ISSUES STATEMENT
In a statement released by the company on social media, it expressed 'sorrow over the tragic loss of one of its users,' stating that as a company, they take user safety seriously and are continuing to add new safety features to their systems.
The company introduced 'new safety requirements' for users under 18 on October 22. The firm also stated that they have added a disclaimer that must be reviewed in every chat to remind users that the person they are chatting with is not real.