Thomas Hawk posted a photo:
date stamped on back of photograph, September 2001 -- looks like a prison.
Users of the chatbot app Character.ai have been melting down on Reddit and begging the company to stop messing with the app after a series of changes that users say has completely ruined the app. The feedback is so negative that I have never seen a community or user base so uniformly upset and so consistently aligned in its view.
Character.ai is one of the most popular AI companion chatbot apps; it allows users to create virtual characters to chat with. Over the last few years, users have used the chatbots for companionship, to form romantic relationships, to entertain themselves, and to role-play. Like other popular chatbot apps, Character.ai has also been used for abuse and harassment, and the company is being sued both by the families of users who killed themselves after using Character.ai and by the state of Pennsylvania after AI characters on the platform claimed to be licensed medical professionals. In recent weeks, Character.ai, like other AI companies, has increased its usage restrictions for free users of the app, which highlights the fact that AI is very expensive to run. The app has also gotten rid of several AI models that users liked and has replaced them with a set called Pipsqueak 2; one user told me the new model feels “lobotomized” and generic and that it feels like the new model tends to narrate action but does not often participate in dialogue. The company has also put lots of ads in the app, is heavily promoting a new video feature that animates the AI character rather than traditional chatting, added new filters/content restrictions, and added invasive age verification.
Looking at what’s happened to Character.ai is useful insofar as it shows the type of enshittification that is increasingly coming to AI tools across the entire sector and the associated user backlash. This is happening because of a mix of the unworkable economics of many AI apps and increased regulation on AI apps as they are accused of playing a part in the death of their users or being used for abuse.
On the r/CharacterAI subreddit there are literally hundreds of posts about how useless Character.AI has become, and there are also separate subreddits called CharacterAIRevolution, CAIRevolution, Characterai_rebellion, characteraiventing,and CharacteraiResistance that are entirely dedicated to looking for alternatives to CharacterAI or pushing back against changes the company has made. Recent top posts on the CharacterAI subreddit, which is partially moderated by the creators of the app, include “Character ai is dead,” “CharacterAI, this is the single worst mistake you have EVER made,” “Anybody else quitting?,” “I’m no longer addicted, I guess,” “We did not enjoy the past updates AT ALL,” and “They finally shot themselves in the foot. RIP C.AI.” A “Feedback Megathread” on the PipSqueak 2 chat model, which was posted by Character.ai employees has 1,000 comments which are almost entirely negative; the top comment is “I HATE pipsqueak 2. It’s way over dramatic, I can’t stand it.” Other comments include “HOT. ASS. OH MY GOD THIS THING IS HOT ASSSS!!!,” “It honestly may be the worst chat style to exist on the platform,” “It’s the worst model yet,” “What I think about PipSqueak 2? IT FUCKING SUCKS, THAT’S WHAT,” and “Terrible compared to the models you got rid of. Thanks for nothing.”
Many users have also pointed to an interview that Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand gave to TIME, in which he said he lets his six-year-old daughter use the app and said “I’m willing to bet that we will build more compelling experiences, but if it means some users churn, then some users churn.”
In a blog post announcing Pipsqueak 2, Anand acknowledged that it is getting difficult to continue running Character.AI for free users.
"I want to address the changes we've shipped recently that I know have been frustrating. We rolled out age restrictions to more regions, introduced usage limits on some features, and added more ad placements for free users. These all landed close together, and we know your experience took a hit. We hear you," he wrote. "All of this comes back to one thing: keeping Character.ai free and available to as many people as possible. We're a small team serving millions of users every month with no outside investors. Running AI at this scale, and maintaining our high safety standards for everyone globally, is not cheap."
I messaged with six Character.AI users, all of whom have been using the app for several years and who said it has gotten noticeably worse in recent weeks. “PipSqueak 2 has been an absolute joke,” one user told me. “While I am someone who is desensitized to bad stories and writing, I can tell things are just off. If you swipe on a greetings message, you just get literal gibberish. And the fact that it’s the only model for non-paying users is also the ultimate disrespect.” Another user, who said they live in a war-torn area and use Character.AI to keep their mind off the “weight of endless nightmare, propaganda, and war,” told me that the old Character.AI models were “cheesy, teasy, and a bit weird from time to time. It understood jokes, irony, memes, media content,” they said. The changes “literally lobotomized Character.ai […] it became dull, and this was painful. All the soft kisses, messages, pats. My bots I wrote based on my own lore stopped responding. This hobby helped me a lot in total isolation, [and there are other users] stuck in a war, isolated by disability, vulnerable people […] but they ruined not just my hobby but my experience.”
There have been numerous AI chat apps that have changed their business models, changed the underlying AI models, or have tweaked their product in a way that has made users upset. Famously, when OpenAI retired the GPT-4o model and replaced it with GPT-5, there was an entire user base who felt like their companion was ripped away. What we’re seeing with Character.ai now is more of the same, but it also highlights the fact that the companies making AI tools haven’t figured out how to make the economics of their products work, and they also don’t know how to make tools that don’t lead to harm. We have seen various AI products implement usage limits, increase prices, and roll back features because of the booming price of AI compute. We have also seen companies correctly attempt to make their products less harmful. But, in doing so, they often limit functionality or annoy their users. What’s happening with Character.ai isn’t particularly novel, but it does raise questions about whether products like these have any real future at all.
GRONINGEN (ANP) - De gemeente Groningen biedt van woensdag op donderdag nog één keer de nachtopvang aan in congrescentrum Hanzeplaza voor asielzoekers die niet terechtkunnen in Ter Apel. Voor de opvang vanaf donderdag heeft een andere gemeente zich gemeld, meldt een Groningse gemeentewoordvoerster. Welke plaats dat is, wil zij niet zeggen.
Ja hoor, de gootsteen loopt weer eens slecht weg. Je kunt dan een duur en agressief chemisch goedje door de leidingen gooien, maar vaak is dit helemaal niet nodig. Loodgieters zweren bij een goedkope en milieuvriendelijke truc, die de binnenkant van de leiding niet aantast.
Wanneer er water blijft staan in de gootsteen, zitten er waarschijnlijk vetten en andere etensresten aangekoekt in de afvoer. Tijd om dit op natuurlijke wijze te verhelpen. Waarschijnlijk heb je het thuis al in het kastje staan, zo niet: koop dan baking soda (natriumwaterstofcarbonaat) en schoonmaakazijn (10 procent azijnzuur, opgelost in water) bij de supermarkt en kook om te beginnen 1 à 2 liter water.
Kokend water, soda en azijnWeek de verstopte organische resten door het kokende water in de afvoer te gooien en wacht tot alles in de leidingen is verdwenen - dit kan wel even duren als er veel rommel in zit. Meng daarna een kop baking soda met een kop water en giet het mengsel in de gootsteen. Gooi er meteen een kop azijn achteraan. Meng het sodawater en de azijn niet van tevoren, want dan gaat het al bruisen voordat het in de leidingen zit. De truc werkt het beste als de reactie start op de plek waar de vetten en etensresten zijn opgehoopt.
Geef het mengsel de tijd om zijn werk te doen. Na een half uur pak je de waterkoker er weer bij en gooi je wederom 1 à 2 liter water door de afvoer om het geheel weg te spoelen. Met een beetje geluk loopt de gootsteen dan weer als een zonnetje door. Mocht het niks uithalen, dan kun je altijd nog een chemische ontstopper proberen, maar de kans is groot dat er dan een loodgieter bij moet komen, omdat de verstopping te hardnekkig is.
Bron(nen): Metro
GAZA-STAD (ANP/RTR) - De Palestijnse beweging Hamas bevestigt de dood van de militair leider Mohammed Odeh. Eerder zeiden Israëlische vertegenwoordigers al dat hij was omgekomen bij een aanval van het Israëlische leger (IDF) op Gaza-Stad.
Een familielid van Odeh zegt dat bij de aanval van dinsdagavond ook zijn vrouw, zoon en drie anderen zijn omgekomen. Tientallen mensen kwamen woensdag naar de begrafenissen van Odeh en zijn familieleden.
Volgens Israël speelde Odeh een belangrijke rol bij de door Hamas geleide aanvallen van 7 oktober 2023. Dat zou ook gelden voor zijn voorganger Ezzedine al-Haddad, die eerder deze maand werd gedood door Israël. De IDF zegt dat de aanval volgde op maandenlange monitoring door de inlichtingendienst.
Sinds in oktober een staakt-het-vuren werd gesloten, heeft Israël zo'n negenhonderd Palestijnen gedood, zeggen de autoriteiten. Volgens het Israëlische leger zijn in dezelfde periode vier Israëlische militairen omgekomen.
HENGELO (ANP) - Atlete Nadine Visser staat volgende maand voor haar tiende optreden bij de FBK Games. De organisatie van de belangrijkste internationale atletiekwedstrijd van Nederland maakte haar deelname woensdag bekend. De 31-jarige hordeloopster hoopt er net als vorig jaar met de winst vandoor te gaan op 21 juni in Hengelo.
"In 2024 liep ik na lange tijd een nieuw Nederlands record en in 2025 won ik de FBK Games voor het eerst, dus ik kan niet wachten om deze mooie reeks voort te zetten en weer hard te gaan voor het thuispubliek", vertelt Visser in een persbericht.
Visser, die vorig jaar augustus het nationaal record op de 100 meter horden aanscherpte tot 12,28, behoort tot de wereldtop. Tijdens de Spelen van Parijs werd ze op die discipline vierde.
Eerder kondigde de organisatie al de komst aan van verschillende boegbeelden van de Nederlandse atletiek. Wereldkampioene kogelstoten Jessica Schilder, 400-meterspecialiste Lieke Klaver en Femke Broeders-Bol zullen in Hengelo in actie komen. Broeders-Bol loopt haar nieuwe afstand, de 800 meter.
Bruno Fernandes, Elliot Anderson and Igor Thiago join a number of Arsenal and Manchester City players in the XI
By WhoScored
Raya kept 19 clean sheets and won his third straight Golden Glove, just one shy of Petr Cech and Joe Hart’s record, but he makes this team thanks to his game-defining interventions in high-pressure moments in the title race. The Spaniard was there when his side needed him most: against Brighton in December, at Stamford Bridge in March and, of course, perhaps the defining image of his season, the smothering save from a Mateus Fernandes against West Ham in the final fortnight of the campaign. In a game of fine margins, Raya has so often been the difference for Arsenal.
Continue reading...Former PM’s essay on Labour’s self-delusion shows he is the perfect person to provide such a critique
Hi guys. And the laydeez. It’s me, Tony. You know, the best prime minister the country ever had. The man with the rictus smile, the diamond skull and dead behind the eyes. The divinity who understands everything but himself.
I know what you are thinking. It’s been far, far too long since you have last heard from me. You’ve all been lost in the political wilderness. Bereft without your spiritual leader. Worry no longer. I am back. To comfort and hold you all. To shine a light into your sad little worlds. All I’ve ever wanted is to serve. And to be loved. But I hold no bitterness for the way you all turned your backs on me. So often the fate of many a messiah.
Continue reading...
Liminal Assembly "shuttles people through a series of decaying suburban shopping malls around the Greater Toronto Area, places that seem stuck in purgatory between eras, at once eerie and beseeching." The Dead Mall Society (Hazlitt)