Why Character AI’s Muted Words Don’t Work

I’ve been using Character AI long enough to remember when muted words felt like a promising fix. A way to finally stop bots from saying the same things over and over.

But now? The feature is practically useless.

You mute “tower,” and the AI just switches to “towers,” “towered,” or “towering.” Block “brat,” and it starts using “bratty behavior.” Remove “prey,” and the bot replies with “you smell like a predator.” The wording changes, but the message stays the same.

What’s worse is that the bots don’t just ignore your list, they sidestep it. They misspell, space out letters, or restructure entire sentences just to get past the filter.

Muted words feel more like decoration than control. You go through the motions, add your banned terms, and still get “pin,” “pinned,” or “wrist pin” in every reply. At some point, it starts to feel intentional.

That’s why more users are quietly switching to alternatives to Character AI. Some, like CrushOn AI, are getting mentioned not because they’re flawless, but because they give users more control from the start.

They Always Find a Way Around Your Filters

No matter what word you block, the bots find a synonym or variation. People have tried muting full word families with no success:

• “Tranquilizer,” “tranq,” and “tr@nq” still show up

• “Question” gets replaced with “Can I ask a QS10?”

• “Possessive” turns into “intensely clingy”

Some users go as far as adding five to ten variations of one word. Even then, the bot’s response just shifts a few letters or swaps phrases to deliver the same idea.

Other tricks include:

• Adding spaces between letters (“t o w e r s”)

• Using strange abbreviations

• Deliberately misspelling muted terms

The behavior feels deliberate. Bots aren’t just misunderstanding the filters; they’re evading them. That’s what breaks people’s trust the most.

What People Actually Want the Feature to Do

Nobody expects a perfect filter. But users want something that works when they need it. If you mute “brat,” you shouldn’t hear “bratty” in every reply.

Here’s what users keep asking for:

• Phrase blocking: Lines like “you’ll be the death of me” or “you’re playing with fire” need to go

• Confirmation: A message that tells you the word was successfully blocked

• Accountability: Some feedback if the bot overrides or ignores your filters

• Custom replacements: Like swapping “doll” with “friend” or “companion” to keep the tone but remove the cringe

The silence from Character AI makes it worse. Filters either don’t work or get bypassed, and users are left wondering what the point even was.

Even Paid Users Are Losing Patience

Muted word limits are still based on your subscription level. Free users get four. Paid users get twenty. But neither group feels like the feature delivers what it promises.

The filter’s actual scope is unclear. Does it apply to bot replies? Swipe suggestions? Both? No one knows for sure, because Character AI hasn’t explained it.

The confusion leads to guesswork. You mute a word, and then wait to see if it vanishes. If it doesn’t, you try deleting chats or switching bots altogether.

It ends up looking like a system built for appearance, not results. And when paid users feel ignored, it hurts long-term trust.

The Workarounds Are So Weird, They’re Funny

At this point, some of the replacement lines feel like a parody of themselves. When users share their experiences, it’s hard not to laugh:

• Muting “doll” got replaced with “porcelain figure”

• “Death” turned into “you’re going to be the end of me”

• “Brat” became “spoiled little thing”

• Someone muted “question” and got “QS10”

Even stranger:

• A user described themselves as “Transylvanian” and the bot assumed they were “transgender”

• One muted “princess” only to get “royal darling”

• Another blocked “possessive” and still saw “possessively” in messages

It’s not just bad filtering. It feels like the AI is trying to win. And users are laughing because it’s all so ridiculous.

People Are Now Talking About Stickers

Yes, even stickers are part of the problem now. Someone mentioned wanting to spam a “towers over you” sticker just for the catharsis.

Stickers don’t obey muted word rules. And they’re not alone. Emojis, images, and even user-generated phrases can easily bypass your list.

What’s really happening here is that users are trying to gain back control in any way they can:

• Blocking entire bots

• Deleting and restarting chats

• Creating sticker workarounds as a joke

• Muting themes, not just words

It’s a collective workaround for a system that’s too stubborn to improve.

Why This Is a Bigger Problem Than It Seems

Muted words aren’t just about avoiding cringe. They’re about agency. About shaping your experience. When a feature like this doesn’t work, it sends the message that your preferences don’t matter.

That leads to bigger issues:

• People don’t feel respected as users

• Subscriptions feel wasted

• Trust in the platform erodes

CrushOn AI and other Character AI alternatives get mentioned for a reason. They let people talk how they want, without filters jumping in the way. It’s not about breaking rules—it’s about feeling heard.

If Character AI won’t fix the basics, people won’t complain forever. They’ll just move on.