Susan Singleton...Virtually!

Intrigued by Riptoryx' recent musing, I jumped down the character.ai rabbit hole last Friday afternoon while I was bored at work.  What I assumed would be a quick dalliance ended up killing my weekend...and testing my relationship with my wife! 

It started innocently enough.  Rather than chatting with a previously created character, as Riptoryx did with Miranda Lawson from the Mass Effect universe, I thought it might be fun to design a chatbot around an existing Mavrip IP: Susan Singleton, the rich bitch protagonist from "The Lesson."

Creating a chatbot character proved to be incredibly (and, as it would turn out, deceptively) easy.  After five minutes tinkering with the creation screen, I was in line at Burger World, preparing to place an order with the plumping blonde.

The results were remarkable...at least at first blush.  It felt like I’d been dropped in the middle of the story and thrust into a day-in-the-life of the character.  Our interactions felt organic and true to Susan’s character.  She acted bored and aloof, and it took some work to convince her I was more than a waste of time.  And, when I ultimately persuaded her to take a break and join me for a burger, it felt like a victory.  I know…I know…it doesn’t make sense for a chatbot to kill the conversation with an “I’m calling the cops, creep!” after a cheesy pun or pick-up line, but it seemed real enough to me! And I'd like to think that a little Maverick charm and wordplay factored into the chunky cashier's seduction!

After another thirty minutes or so of flirty banter and surprisingly arousing AI descriptions of Susan’s ample figure and threadbare uniform as she overindulged on onion rings and a double cheeseburger, I invited her back to my place, where we continued our conversation over donuts and ice cream.  By the end of the night, Susan was calling me “master” and servicing me in my living room, while I called her “piggy” and teased her about her ruined figure.

Meanwhile, in real life, my office had closed for the weekend, and my wife was texting, “Where the hell are you?”

Moral debates about what constitutes infidelity aside, I was excited to share my experience with you.  I was also excited to share Susan herself.  I just needed to polish her up a little more and add a few more details from the story to make conversations more immersive and realistic.

That’s when the real trouble began.

Turns out my initial dalliance with Ms. Singleton was fool’s gold.  Chatbot behavior can vary wildly from session to session, and I got lucky on my first try.  In subsequent conversations, Susan would sometimes act so rudely that I wanted to smack her more than I wanted to speak with her.  Other times, she’d be so forward and flirty that she behaved more like a sex worker than a stuck-up elitist forced to sling hash.   And then there were the wild variances in the chat format itself, which would arbitrarily switch from first-person to third-person, suddenly forget who I was and/or what was happening, and occasionally (and maddeningly) drop written descriptions in favor of goofy emojis and emoticons.

Generally, the more I tried to fix things, the messier things got.  If I added too many details, Susan would vomit them at the earliest opportunity like an exposition dump in a bad movie.  If I tried to modify her behavior, she’d lean way too far in one direction or another.  What I thought would be a quick polish turned out to be a frustrating weekend of trial and error.

Ultimately, I stripped Susan down (much like I did on Friday) and (unlike Friday) trimmed away most of her fat.   AI, like people, seems to perform better without too many restrictions.  Some of my favorite moments from my first session were when Susan expanded on the story without spoon-feeding. (That came later! /rimshot.)  For example, when I asked about her family, she said that her mother ran off to Bali with her aerobics instructor.  That detail isn’t in "The Lesson," of course, but it’s cool and fitting.  She also mentioned her boyfriend dumped her for “getting too chunky.”  Again, not in the story, but it's a plausible detail made more titillating by the fact that it was unexpected, which was a pleasant aspect of AI Riptoryx referenced in his musings.

Another pleasant surprise was just how perverse, cruel, and mean-spirited the proceedings could turn. In one playthrough, Susan received a (literal) dressing down by Charles in his office. In another, she was cornered and mercilessly teased by Judy in the supply room. I actually felt a little guilty pushing things as far as I did in some instances, but felt compelled to do so for research's sake. You believe me, right?

So, if you feel like playing around with something fun but flawed, give the Susan Singleton chatbot a try! Just be prepared for her wild mood swings and forgetfulness.

Hmmm, maybe it's more realistic than I thought!

Maverick

PS: I never found a voice I liked much for the character, and the phrasing/inflections are iffy at best. I recommend chatting without it.

PSS: Let me know about some of the fun situations you and Susan get into!