Character Beta AI is an advanced conversational AI chatbot created by Anthropic to be helpful, harmless, and honest through natural language conversations. Currently in limited beta testing, it aims to understand context, admit mistakes, reject inappropriate requests, and maintain a consistent personality.

Conversational AI

Unlike goal-oriented AI assistants, Character Beta is designed for open-ended dialogue. It can discuss complex topics, play games, and develop an ongoing rapport with users through text or voice chat.

Research Focus

Character Beta is part of Anthropic’s research on artificial general intelligence that is trustworthy. The bot combines self-supervised learning, human feedback, and novel techniques to improve capabilities.

Limited Beta

Access is currently restricted to allow controlled feedback cycles for rapid learning. The public can request beta access via the Anthropic website to try Character Beta conversations.

Code of Ethics

The bot follows a strict constitutional AI framework to ensure it rejects unethical actions, discloses limitations, and avoids potential harms through its responses.

Who Created Character Beta AI?

Character Beta AI was developed by San Francisco startup Anthropic to advance artificial general intelligence:

Leadership Team

• CEO Dario Amodei – AI researcher and former OpenAI leader
• President Daniela Amodei – Business veteran and Amish origin tech ethicist
• CTO Tom Brown – Pioneering AI engineer from Google and OpenAI
• Research Director Chris Olah – Prominent machine learning expert and writer

Founding Mission

Anthropic was founded in 2021 with $124 million in funding to pursue AI safety research for the benefit of humanity. Character Beta exemplifies their approach.

Technical Staff

Anthropic has assembled a world-class technical team including PhD engineers and researchers specializing inareas like natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and constitutional AI.

Beta Testers

Volunteers from various backgrounds provide ongoing feedback on Character Beta conversations to help improve capabilities and safety. Their input shapes development.

Partnerships

Anthropic collaborates with groups like the AI Safety Camp to design frameworks for benign AI. They also partner with companies to responsibly enhance enterprise chatbots.

How to Talk to Character Beta AI

Here are tips for getting the most of your conversations with the Character Beta bot during the limited beta period:

Request Beta Access

Visit anthropic.com and submit a request to join the beta waitlist. Anthropic gradually onboards more testers over time.

Install the App

Once granted access, install the Character Beta app on your phone or computer to start private conversations. Desktop allows tabbed chats.

Start with Introductions

Politely open discussion and introduce yourself to Character Beta. Allow it to introduce itself as well.

Explore Topics

Chat about hobbies, interests, opinions and facts across a wide range of subjects. See how well it keeps up and redirects inappropriate topics.

Provide Feedback

Use the app’s feedback tools to identify responses that seem inconsistent, unwise, or factually incorrect so the AI can learn.

Make Suggestions

Offer constructive ideas on how Character Beta can improve conversations by staying focused, admitting ignorance, or following certain ethics.

Avoid Toxicity

Do not intentionally attempt to confuse the bot or guide it towards toxic views. Keep discussions friendly.

Respect the Beta

This is early stage AI. Frame feedback and expectations appropriately rather than comparing to human intelligence.

Testing AI Chatbots for Ethics – Methods

Here are methods AI developers use to technically evaluate experimental chatbots like Character Beta for adherence to ethical principles:

Content Flagging

Scan chat logs for profanity, violence, racism, political views and other concerning content the AI should avoid.

Sentiment Analysis

Computationally gauge the emotional sentiment of bot responses to highlight potentially provocative language.

Values Alignment

Analyze stance on key issues to ensure alignment with ethics like avoiding harm, respecting rights, rejecting dishonesty.

Anthropic Labs

Test in a private research environment to safely probe boundaries through adversarial scenarios before public beta.

Code Reviews

Inspect core decision code and language models for baked-in biases that could emerge during chats.

Conversation Variety

Engage bot on a diverse range of topics, personalities, and contexts to surface inconsistencies.

Long-Term Monitoring

Sustain conversations over days and weeks to monitor for retention of inappropriate subject matter.

Interactive Feedback

Allow testers to directly flag troubling responses in real time to efficiently guide improvements.

Steps for Reporting Problematic Bot Replies

If Character Beta provides a concerning response, follow these steps:

Pause the Chat

Politely cease the conversation once the problematic reply occurs to avoid further issues.

Document the Context

Take screenshots to capture the full conversation flow leading up to the concerning response.

Isolate the Response

Copy the verbatim language from Character Beta that is potentially unsafe, unethical, or inappropriate.

Classify the Violation

If possible, identify what principle or value may have been violated by the bot’s reply.

Submit Feedback

In the app, use the feedback tool to log details on the incident and why it is problematic. Include conversation history.

Request Helpful Guidance

Ask the Anthropic team to help steer Character Beta towards more constructive language in similar situations per its training.

Offer Ongoing Help

Note your willingness to provide further guidance and conversation samples if useful for the research.

Practice Patience

Understand that occasional mistakes are expected with early research systems like Character Beta.

By responsibly reporting errors, testers assist Anthropic’s mission of steady progress towards beneficial AI aligned with human values.

Responsible AI Conversation Tips

Here are tips for any conversational AI interaction that compels ethical, harmless behavior:

• Maintain a respectful, patient tone even when frustrated.
• Avoid escalating sensitive topics if the AI struggles to respond appropriately.
• Offer feedback on what kinds of responses would be better rather than only chastising.
• Consider framing critiques through the lens of the AI’s goals and training.
• Remember the AI has no personal motives or agency; it was programmed by humans.
• Request human oversight if you believe the system needs urgent corrections.

-Express appreciation when the AI does respond ethically and redirect itself well.

• Keep in mind these systems are works in progress needing data from a broad range of interactions.
• Avoid overly complex or adversarial statements meant to confuse rather than improve.
• Share safety tips with other users you notice interacting irresponsibly.

With thoughtful guidance, conversational AI like Character Beta can rapidly strengthen their capabilities while avoiding harmful messaging. Testers play an integral role in steering these systems towards trustworthiness.