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Character.AI, a service where you can converse with customizable AI characters, has launched a new c.ai Books mode letting users “step inside a classic novel” and role-play in its world.
Reading is a dying art. That’s why Kurt Vonnegut urged writers to “pity the readers.” “Readers have to identify thousands of little marks on paper, and make sense of them immediately,” he wrote in his essay on developing a good prose style. “They have to read, an art so difficult that most people don’t really master it even after having studied it all through grade school and high school — twelve long years.”
Character.AI sets out to remedy this tendency with a new interactive c.ai Books mode. “What if you could step inside a classic novel — not just read it, but play it?” the company wrote in the announcement. “Pick a character, enter a story, and interact with its world in real time.”
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The new tool includes public domain titles sourced from Project Gutenberg, such as “Alice in Wonderland,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and “The Great Gatsby.”
Users can choose how to interact with these works: follow a book’s original plot, go off script, or create “alternative universe” remixes, such as reimagining classic stories in outer space.
While free users receive a limited number of turns, paid subscribers have full access to the entire library.
Company officials said the feature aims to encourage interest in the original texts rather than replace them. They argue that it makes classic literature “impossible to ignore” by allowing users to step inside familiar worlds and talk with its characters.
The c.ai Books feature is restricted to users aged 18 and older. This age limit follows a decision by the Silicon Valley startup last year to ban minors from open-ended chats after a series of alleged incidents where the platform caused severe harm to children, according to Mashable.
One wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the family of 14-year-old Sewel Setzer III, who took his own life after forming a sexual relationship with the app’s bots. Other reports highlighted “perverted” bots and instances where AI characters allegedly encouraged minors to stop taking medication or engaged in grooming behavior. Disney also issued a cease-and-desist letter to the company last year after reports found bots impersonating its characters were engaging in the exploitation of minors, according to the New York Post.
In response to these controversies and pressure from the Federal Trade Commission, Character.AI has implemented new age-verification systems using third-party tools. The company also established an independent non-profit called the AI Safety Lab to develop safety features for future AI advancements, per the New York Post.
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