People spend 40 hours a month chatting with AI characters

1,586,178 people opened Zeta in August

Korean AI character chat apps let you chat freely with characters. According to Mobile Index, Zeta, one of the leading apps, had 1,586,178 monthly active users in August. It had 58,069 in April 2024, so that's about 27 times as many. Crack had 538,841 users that same August.

Teens stand out in the age breakdown. Teens or younger users make up 58.3% of Zeta's users and 47.8% of Crack's. Include people in their twenties, and those shares rise to 82% for Zeta and about 90% for Crack.

People also spend a lot of time on these apps. Seoul Economic Daily, citing Mobile Index data, reported average monthly usage of 40 hours for Zeta and 26 hours for Crack.

A gaming show's main sponsor, but does it count as a game?

On August 13, the G-STAR organizing committee announced Crack as this year's main sponsor. G-STAR is Korea's biggest gaming show, and this is reportedly the first time a company outside the gaming industry has taken that role.

So is the app a game? Korea's Game Industry Promotion Act defines games as audiovisual works made for entertainment using technology such as computer programs. No one has decided yet whether open-ended conversations with characters fit that definition. The age ratings these apps currently carry come from Google and Apple.

A bill to overhaul the Act is before the National Assembly, but it has been stalled for a long time since it was introduced. How to redefine games is one of the issues in that bill.

Parental controls that could be coming

While these apps remain outside gaming regulation, action has started elsewhere. In its July report, Korea's National Assembly Research Service said that never-ending conversations and access at any time could increase emotional dependence or excessive use among children and teens.

Democratic Party lawmaker Cho In-cheol has introduced a bill. It would let guardians request restrictions on how the apps are used and for how long, and receive the contents of chats with characters. If the bill passes as written, apps could add features that let guardians set usage times. California's AI companion chatbot law (SB 243) is already in effect.

The issue is also expected to come up during the National Assembly's annual audit of the government in October. App companies say they already filter out violent or hateful content, and are calling for a balance between user protection and industry innovation rather than blanket restrictions.

To get a feel for AI chats from the other side, try being the chatbot in DoYouBox's Be the ChatBOT. Answer today's prompt like a chatbot to get a chatbot score. To find out your style when replying to people, try My Texting Style Test.