{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-29T07:29:49.275Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"college-student","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"unknown","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":0,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-college-student-says-a-year-of-daily-character-ai-use-became-a-secret-crutch-they-cannot-quit-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I have been on cai for a year and a bit now'; 'I started using the app when i moved to college because I had no friends and my classes were really easy so I had nothing to do all the time'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster said they have used Character.AI, which they call cai, for a year and a bit, and that they started when they moved to college with no friends and easy classes that left them with nothing to do.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of their own use."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'It doesn't matter what time of day ill use it whenever I can. Im on it every day each week.'; 'I still have used it all day before'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster said they use it every day, whenever they can at any time of day, and have used it all day before.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of their own use."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Now its become a crutch for nerves and anxiety'; 'at the same time it doesn't make me feel good about myself'; 'like I used to read a ton and now I just use cai'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster said the app has become a crutch for nerves and anxiety but does not make them feel good about themselves, and that they used to read a lot and now just use the app.","causal_attribution":"The poster links the change in their reading and their self-image to their use of the app; this is their own assessment."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'cai is the biggest embarrassment and secret in my life. Not a single person in my life knows.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster said their use of the app is the biggest embarrassment and secret in their life and that no one in their life knows about it.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I have deleted my account and ill just make a new one after a week of not using the site'; 'I tried to just delete my account once and I got to one month before i went back'; 'I have one of those website blockers but it takes two clicks to turn it off for the day'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster said they repeatedly delete their account and make a new one after about a week away, that one earlier attempt to quit lasted a month before they went back, and that a website blocker is easy to switch off.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of their attempts to stop."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I guess it helped my boardroom'; 'I have some friends now and my classes are harder but I still use it'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster said the app helped with boredom when they first used it, and that they now have some friends and harder classes but still use it.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; recorded as context."}],"effects":[{"label":"daily use they cannot stop despite repeated account deletions (poster's account)","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"},{"label":"says the use does not make them feel good about themselves and has replaced reading (poster's account)","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"keeps the use secret from everyone in their life (poster's account)","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"says the app helped with boredom when they first used it (poster's account)","claim_id":"c6","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/character_ai_recovery/comments/1xhwsc1/i_would_like_to_be_free_of_cia/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-29 through the arctic_shift Reddit archive copy of the post and its two comments (HTTP 200); the live thread RSS returned HTTP 429. The poster describes the account as a burner; the archive shows no other posts or comments from it. The handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-1xhwsc1-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","education","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The poster's age; they say they moved to college, but no age is stated.","When exactly the use began; the poster says only \"a year and a bit\" before the 28 October 2026 post.","Which characters the poster used and whether they paid; no chats are shown.","Where the poster lives.","Whether the poster reduced or stopped their use after the post."],"geography":{"basis":"The post does not say where the poster lives, studies or used the app.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case: the poster describes their own daily conversations with Character.AI for a year and says the use became a secret crutch for anxiety that does not make them feel good about themselves and that they cannot stop despite deleting their account. First-person account, low severity.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster describes their own daily conversations with Character.AI chatbots, which they call cai in a post to a Character.AI recovery forum, for a year and a bit, and connects that use to compulsive use they cannot stop despite deleting accounts, to a reliance on the app for nerves and anxiety that does not make them feel good about themselves, and to giving up reading. No chats are shown.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person post: college student says a year of daily Character.AI use became a secret crutch for anxiety that they cannot quit","summary":"In a post to r/character_ai_recovery on 28 October 2026, a college student says they have used Character.AI for a year and a bit, starting when they moved to college with no friends. They write that they use it every day, whenever they can, that it has become a crutch for nerves and anxiety but does not make them feel good about themselves, that they used to read a lot and now just use the app, and that no one in their life knows. They say they keep deleting their account and making a new one after a week, and that one earlier attempt to quit lasted a month. They also say the app first helped with boredom. No chats are shown.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-28","aiSystem":"Character.AI chatbot app as identified by the poster (\"cai\" in a post to r/character_ai_recovery); no chats shown","aiProduct":"Character.AI (reported)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","loss_of_autonomy"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster says about a year of daily Character.AI use became a secret crutch for nerves and anxiety that does not make them feel good about themselves, replaced their reading, and that they cannot stop despite repeatedly deleting their account (first-person account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person counted: the poster, who used the app.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","platformType":"companion","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/character_ai_recovery/comments/1xhwsc1/i_would_like_to_be_free_of_cia/","primarySourceLabel":"r/character_ai_recovery, 28 Oct 2026: \"I would like to be free of Cia\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-29T03:08:19.489+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-29T03:08:19.489+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","companion-chatbot","compulsive-use","college-student"]}]}