{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-11-07T02:56:12.582Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"first-person","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"2023","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":0,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":2,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":1,"coreRelations":2,"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":"2023-character-ai-user-says-years-of-after-school-roleplay-cost-sleep-concentration-and-grades-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'back in 2023 when the site was new and I found out about it'; 'I would come back from school and sit on character ai for hours'; 'I spent almost 2.5 years living like that'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they found Character.AI in 2023 and spent almost two and a half years using it for hours after school, thinking about roleplay ideas when away from it.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of their own use."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I lost my ability to concentrate in class and I would go to school with like 3 hours of sleep because I’d be using c.ai until I feel asleep'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says the use cost them their ability to concentrate in class and sent them to school on about three hours of sleep because they used the site until they fell asleep.","causal_attribution":"Poster's attribution of the lost sleep and concentration to their Character.AI use."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'it really affected my grades, I didn’t do bad but could’ve done so much better than I had done'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says the use affected their grades: they did not do badly but could have done much better.","causal_attribution":"Poster's attribution; no school record is shown."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'now that I have kind of quit for a few months, relapsing here and there'; 'after quitting for a few months I’ve noticed my sleep has improved, my cognitive abilities have improved'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they have mostly quit for a few months, delete their account after relapses, and that their sleep, attention span and hobbies have improved since.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of recovery after stopping use."}],"effects":[{"label":"lost sleep and concentration in class during years of use (poster's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"lower grades than the poster says they could have achieved","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"improved sleep, attention and hobbies after quitting (poster's account)","claim_id":"c4","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatbotAddiction/comments/1x7aac7/i_wish_i_never_found_out_about_cai/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-21 through the arctic_shift archive API (post ID search, link_id comment search and the author's post and comment searches); self-text and all four comments at retrieval, one of them by the poster. reddit.com is not fetched from this host. The poster handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-chatbotaddiction-1x7aac7-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["education","everyday_life","health"],"unknowns":["How many hours a day the poster spent on the site and what the roleplay contained; no chats are shown.","The poster's age and type of school during the years of use.","The poster's actual grades; no school record is shown.","Where the poster lives or used the site.","The poster gives the period of use as almost two and a half years in this post and as almost three years in comments elsewhere the same day."],"geography":{"basis":"The post does not say where the poster lives, studies or used the site; the subreddit and the language of the post are not evidence of location.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the public-forum rule as a first-person account of about two and a half years of Character.AI roleplay from 2023 that the poster says displaced sleep and concentration and lowered their grades, with the recovery they report after quitting. Described with attribution and without corroboration.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-21"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster says the experience is their own roleplay with Character.AI's character chatbots from 2023: hours on the site after school, continued until they fell asleep. They connect those exchanges to lost sleep, lost concentration in class and lower grades, and say these improved after they stopped. No chat content or usage record is shown.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person post: Character.AI user says about two and a half years of after-school roleplay from 2023 cost them sleep, concentration and better grades","summary":"In a post to r/ChatbotAddiction on 16 October 2026, a person writes that they found Character.AI in 2023, when the site was new, and call that the worst mistake of their life. They say that for almost two and a half years they spent hours on the site after school, thought about new roleplay ideas when they were not on it, and stopped only for about a month before exams. They write that they lost the ability to concentrate in class, went to school on about three hours of sleep because they used the site until they fell asleep, and that their grades suffered: not badly, they say, but they could have done much better. They say they have mostly quit for a few months, with relapses after which they delete their account, and that their sleep, attention span and hobbies have since improved. The account is uncorroborated and no chat content is shown.","incidentDate":"2023-01-01","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-16","aiSystem":"Character.AI, a character chatbot site the poster calls c.ai and used for roleplay (poster's account; no chats or usage records shown)","aiProduct":"Character.AI (reported)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["educational_harm","functional_impairment"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster says about two and a half years of after-school Character.AI roleplay from 2023 left them going to school on about three hours of sleep, unable to concentrate in class and with lower grades than they could have achieved (first-person account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the poster, who describes their own use of Character.AI. Commenters are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","platformType":"companion","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatbotAddiction/comments/1x7aac7/i_wish_i_never_found_out_about_cai/","primarySourceLabel":"r/ChatbotAddiction, 16 Oct 2026: \"I wish I never found out about c.ai\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-21T03:08:46.887874+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-21T03:08:46.887874+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","character-ai","dependency","sleep","education"]},{"id":"2023-character-ai-minor-describes-being-unable-to-stop-roleplay-chatbot-use-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'because I am still a minor'; 'had this problem since 2023'; 'I downloaded C.ai because everyone was downloading it'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they are a minor, have had the problem since 2023, and downloaded Character.AI because everyone was downloading it.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I chat with the bots using a fictional persona of myself'; 'tried writing fanfics, reading fanfics, but nothing seems to work out'; 'roleplay for maybe like 10 minutes'; 'it would be an endless loop'; 'sometimes the need to go on that app eats me alive'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they chat with the bots through a fictional persona in short recurring sessions, have tried fan fiction as a substitute, and cannot stop.","causal_attribution":"Poster attributes the continued use to wanting to experiment with how the bots respond; no assessment of dependence is described."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I feel so embarrassed after using C.ai every time'; 'disgusting and embarrassed after using it'; 'actively trying to get off of the AI chatbot apps'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they feel embarrassed after every use of the app and are actively trying to stop.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I feel like a lot of you guys are taking my post the wrong way'; 'I have a bunch of friends'; 'we have actual social lives'; 'This is honestly just a guilty pleasure for me that I have to get rid of'; 'C.ai is honestly just a guilty pleasure that I need to get rid of'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In an edit to the post and a later reply, the poster says they have friends, a job and many school activities, and describes their use of the app as a guilty pleasure they need to get rid of.","causal_attribution":"Not applicable: records the poster's own qualification of the account's severity."}],"effects":[{"label":"self-described inability to stop using roleplay chatbots since 2023 (poster's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"embarrassment and disgust after each use (poster's account)","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/antiai/comments/1wxtnct/i_have_an_ai_chatbot_addiction_please_give_me_tips/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-05: full self-text and the comment tree (26 comments, one by the poster), retrieved through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID. Re-read on 2026-10-12 in the live thread feed (post plus 37 comments) and the arctic_shift capture (40 comments, two by the poster): the post now carries an edit by the poster, and a second poster reply was added on 5 October. The poster handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-antiai-chatbot-addiction-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life"],"unknowns":["How often and for how long in total the poster uses the app.","Whether the use has affected school or sleep; the poster's later edit says they have friends and many activities.","Where the poster lives."],"geography":{"basis":"The poster does not say where they live; no country is recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the charter's public first-person rule as a concrete first-person account of an ongoing adverse experience with a roleplay chatbot app, described with attribution and without corroboration. The poster's later edit, which describes an active social life and calls the use a guilty pleasure, is recorded as context. The poster says they are a minor; their handle and stated starting age are not recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-12"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster names C.ai (Character.AI) as the app they use and describes roleplay chats with its bots. Nothing beyond the poster's statement establishes the use.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person forum post: a self-described minor says they have been unable to stop using Character.AI since 2023 and feel disgust after each session","summary":"In a public forum post in October 2026, a person who says they are still a minor writes that they have had what they call an AI chatbot addiction since 2023, and that they downloaded Character.AI because, they say, everyone was downloading it. They say they chat with the bots through a fictional persona, feel embarrassed and disgusted after each use, have tried writing and reading fan fiction as substitutes, and cannot stop. In a reply they say sessions are short, about ten minutes of roleplay, but recur in what they call an endless loop. They ask other users for advice on quitting. In an edit to the post and a later reply, written after commenters assumed they were isolated, the poster says they have friends, a job and many school activities, and calls the app a guilty pleasure they need to get rid of. The account is the poster's alone and is uncorroborated.","incidentDate":"2023-01-01","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-04","aiSystem":"Character.AI roleplay chatbots (the poster writes C.ai)","aiProduct":"Character.AI (reported)","aiCompany":"Character Technologies, Inc.","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","loss_of_autonomy"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster, who says they are a minor, says they have been unable to stop using Character.AI roleplay chatbots since 2023 despite trying substitutes, and feel embarrassed and disgusted after each use (first-person account, uncorroborated; the word addiction is the poster's own).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the poster. Commenters who say they had the same problem are not counted. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"companion","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/antiai/comments/1wxtnct/i_have_an_ai_chatbot_addiction_please_give_me_tips/","primarySourceLabel":"r/antiai, 4 October 2026: \"I have an AI chatbot addiction. Please give me tips.\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-05T03:16:20.030658+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-12T03:19:46.567229+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","character-ai","minor","compulsive-use","roleplay","self-described-addiction","communicated-with"]}]}