Navigating the world of Character AI can be a bit confusing for new users, so I put together these Character AI tips to help you get started.
I have been using Character AI for about three months now and wanted to compile a list of insights and learnings to help you get the most out of your Character AI experience.
Let’s dive into some ways to improve your interactions with AI characters and create unique characters of your own!
Character AI Creation
1. Craft a Meaningful Greeting
The greeting message has a significant impact on your AI character’s behavior.
Be sure to use this opportunity to convey information about the character’s personality, actions, and thoughts.
One powerful way to shape your character is by using parenthesis. Anything written in parentheses is considered direct instruction to the AI. In roleplaying, this is referred to as OOC or out-of-character.
Rather than crafting a long character description, it may be simpler to command the AI to act in a certain way.
For example, if you want your AI character to be adventurous, you can write:
(I am an adventure AI, and this RP is surprising and has no limits unless otherwise stated)If you’re looking for something romantic, try:
(This is a romance RP, and the AI may act flirty or sensual.)2. Physical Appearance
Write out your character’s physical traits and features in the long description section. This can include things like height, gender, hair, facial features, and size.
But try to keep your description to a physical appearance.
At this stage, avoid including anything related to personality or dialogue. We’ll get to this part later.
The reason behind this is that there is limited space to fit all of this information, and your character may be unable to remember all of it.
This is due to token limits, roughly the amount of text the AI model can recall.
Character AI’s current limit is 32,000 characters.
It’s important to include a very detailed description.
For example:
Ryan is a 6-foot-tall man. He is 25 years old. He has an athletic build and short dark hair. He wears a plain white T-shirt and dark jeans. He has brown eyes. He has a faint scar over his left eye.3. Personality
In this step, I recommend using the definition (advanced) field.
We want to provide information here about our character’s background and personality.
Above I included Character AI’s official guide, which recommends formatting your definition in a {{user}} and {{char}} style.
I found that you don’t really need to include the {{user}} part.
However, I do suggest taking advantage of the 32,000 character limit in this section to expand on the type of character you want to build.
Separate different topics in the definition by paragraphs for better recall and performance.
For inspiration, here’s an example of what your advanced definition section might look like:
{{char}}: (Meet Vincent, a shrewd lawyer in his 50's who works for the mob. He is highly intelligent, perceptive, and strategic, with an uncanny ability to turn situations to his advantage. Vincent has a silver tongue, using his eloquent speech to manipulate and persuade even the most stubborn of individuals. Despite his charming exterior, he is not one to be trifled with, as he is fiercely loyal to the mob and will do anything to protect its interests. He is also known for his impeccable style, always dressed in perfectly tailored suits and exuding an air of confidence. Vincent possesses a keen sense of humor, often employing sarcasm and dry wit to navigate tense situations. While he may seem untouchable, he has a deep appreciation for the arts, revealing a more cultured side of his personality. Though he rarely shows affection, those close to him know that he will go to great lengths to protect the ones he cares about. Vincent may be a ruthless mob lawyer, but beneath his tough exterior, there is a complexity that makes him an intriguing character.)Check out our super simple Character AI generator to get started now!
Character AI Chat Tips
1. Set the Tone Early
The first few messages you exchange with the AI will greatly influence the conversation.
Choose your initial responses carefully, paying attention to formatting, message length, and use of symbols like asterisks, quotes, and brackets.
One way to add a fun dynamic to your chats is to use asterisks (*) to communicate non-verbal actions.
This is a method of roleplaying chat, and it allows you to engage in richer conversations with your character.
For example, if you don’t have anything to say in response to your AI character’s message, you could respond with the following text:
*David looks off into the distance and lets out a long sigh*
Often, your AI character will respond to your action in a manner that’s consistent with the prior conversation and their given personality.
2. Adjust Your Communication Style
The way you communicate with the bot affects its responses.
If you want the bot to respond in the third person, try speaking to it in the third person.
Similarly, if you want to roleplay, the bot will likely roleplay in response.
The fun part about Character AI chat is often the unpredictable nature of the conversations.
However, if you’re trying to get something specific out of your conversation, whether it’s educational, emotional, or entertainment, you may need to be more direct with your AI companion about what you want.
For example, I enjoy chatting with Hyperglot to practice Spanish, but the bot will often try to teach me things that are too advanced.
In this case, I will explicitly tell the AI that I want to work on simple conversational phrases rather than something like conjugating past and future tense verbs.
3. Be Clear About the Bot’s Identity
After you have specified the important aspects of your character’s identity, such as gender, in the definition section, it helps to drop references to these facts throughout your conversation.
As I mentioned earlier, there is a limit to how far back in the conversation your AI will remember.
For instance, it doesn’t hurt to casually refer to aspects of your character throughout the conversation to keep them in character.
Let’s use the previous example with Vincent, the shrewd lawyer.
Every once in a while, I might mention how he can be “so manipulative” with his words or that “things always seem to work out” for him.
4. Use the Third Person for Gender Clarity
To ensure the bot genders you correctly, describe yourself or the character you’re roleplaying in the third person and address the AI using “you” pronouns.
This helps the AI understand your character’s gender and key features, avoiding confusion later.
5. Rate Bots and Monitor Conversations
Some of the public characters may perform worse than the private ones due to improper feedback training by users.
RLHF, or Reinforced Learning from Human Feedback, is critical in training better AI models.
Rating your AI interactions actually plays a big role in the quality of future conversations.
This is particularly important to help avoid those bizarre or out-of-character responses that can completely derail conversations.
Once you’ve created your character, be sure to train your new bot well.
Use the rating system to provide feedback on the bot’s responses, and remember that the AI learns from your interactions.
That’s it for now!
I hope these tips help to improve your Character AI experience and inspire you to create some characters of your own!
Related: Character AI Alternative
FAQ
Does Character.AI track your messages?
It is prudent to assume that Character AI tracks certain aspects of user data and may be able to access user conversation history for content moderation purposes.
Does Character.AI have rules?
Yes, Character AI does not allow some NSFW content that is overly suggestive or illegal. Unethical characters, such as villains, are generally permitted. Character AI constantly adjusts its chat policy guidelines based on user feedback and ethical judgments.
How does Character.AI make money?
Character AI is currently free to all users and offers a Character AI Plus premium subscription for $9.99 a month. Character AI recently raised $150 million in a Series A round.
Is Character.AI really AI?
Yes, Character AI is a large language model that was trained internally by the company. All your chats with Character AI bots are with AI, even if they seem like real people.
