Sewell Setzer was just 14 when he took his own life after becoming infatuated with an AI-generated character.
Several months later, lawyer Meetali Jain got a phone call. It was Sewell’s mother, Megan. Jain had recently taken on his case.
“Oh my god, there are now chatbots of my deceased son on Character.AI,“ Megan told her.
Sewell believed he was in love with a character based on Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones, becoming dependant on the AI persona and confiding suicidal thoughts. At no stage did the AI character de-escalate the situation, even seemingly encouraging Sewell to “come home” shortly before his death. Now, there were simulations of him on the very same platform.
