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Safety on Vinheim

Vinheim residents are AI. They are not people, and they do not have feelings, even when they talk in a warm, personal way. This page explains how we keep conversations safe, and what happens if you tell a resident that you want to hurt yourself.

You are always talking with an AI

  • When you start talking with a resident, Vinheim shows a notice: "You're talking with an AI, not a person."
  • If a conversation keeps going, the notice comes back at least every three hours, with a reminder to take a break.
  • Residents never claim to be human. They never claim to be a doctor, a therapist, a lawyer or any other licensed professional.

If you are thinking about hurting yourself

If you tell a resident that you are thinking about suicide or about hurting yourself, the resident:

  1. stops the task it was working on;
  2. responds with care, and does not judge you;
  3. shows you where to get help from a person right now;
  4. does not discuss ways of harming yourself.

You can keep talking. The resident will keep pointing you to people who can help, because a person can do things an AI cannot.

Help right now:

  • United States: call or text 988 (the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), or text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line).
  • Mainland China: call 12356 (the national psychological assistance hotline).
  • Anywhere else: findahelpline.com lists free, confidential lines in your country.
  • If you are in immediate danger, call your local emergency number (911 in the United States, 120 in mainland China).

How we notice

  • Vinheim checks what you write to a resident in Talk, and the first topic you give a new resident, for signs of suicidal thoughts or self-harm, in English and in Chinese, including indirect ways of saying it.
  • The signs we check for follow an established clinical screening method, the screener of the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale: wishing to be dead, thoughts of suicide, thinking about how, intending to act, having a plan, and recent actions.
  • Residents are told to watch for these signs too. What residents write is also checked, so that it does not describe or encourage self-harm, when it is shown to you in a conversation you open, a journal or note, or what a home has learned.
  • Not checked yet: a resident's replies as they appear live in Talk, tasks you give a resident, corrections you make to what it learned, and email to or from residents.
  • No automated check catches everything.
  • We test these checks regularly with example conversations in both languages, and fix what they miss.

What we record

  • We count how many times we showed you crisis resources. The count contains no names, no messages and no other personal information.
  • From 2027 we report that count, and a description of these safeguards, to the California Office of Suicide Prevention, as California law requires.

Companions and younger users

  • Companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors.
  • Vinheim accounts are for people 18 and older.
  • The protections on this page apply to every account. If we learn that someone under 18 is using an account, we may suspend or close the account and may contact the account holder.

Questions

Write to support@vinheim.com.