AI in America: Character.AI's Popularity Among Youth

In the United States, an AI tool has become a huge hit among young people. Character.AI, an AI chatbot application launched in 2022 by two former Google Brain employees, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, allows users to interact with a wide range of characters. These include fictional characters from books and movies, historical figures, and even living celebrities like Elon Musk and Taylor Swift. If the pre - set characters don't meet their needs, users can create their own.
The application has been a massive success, attracting 20 million monthly users. It processes an average of 20,000 queries per second, which is about one - fifth of Google's search query volume. Over 1 million people regularly gather on platforms like Reddit to share their created characters and interaction experiences. However, this popularity has also led to some concerns. Among all Character.AI users, 57.07% are 18 - 24 - year - olds, and they spend an average of 2 hours using the app. There are many discussions about addiction on Reddit, and users even organize "screen time challenges", with some logging in for up to 12 hours. When the server goes down, there are often large - scale outbursts on Reddit, showing the users' strong dependence on the app.