The Frustration of Forgotten Lore: When Your AI Just Doesn’t Get It
Ever spent hours meticulously crafting a detailed backstory for your AI character, only for them to completely disregard it five messages later? If you frequent subreddits like r/JanitorAI_Official or r/CharacterAI, you know this pain all too well. It’s a recurring nightmare for anyone invested in deep roleplay with AI chatbots: the moment your meticulously designed character decides to rewrite its own history, age, or even core personality. It’s like the AI just… forgets who it is, or maybe never truly understood in the first place.
This isn’t just a minor glitch; it’s an immersion-shattering experience. It makes you question why you bothered putting in all that effort to begin with. You spend time setting up intricate details, a specific age, a unique power, or a distinct personality, and then bam – the bot acts like a generic template. The exasperation is palpable in community posts, and honestly, it’s a valid complaint.
One Reddit user on r/JanitorAI_Official recently voiced this exact sentiment, and it resonated with so many because it’s a universal problem in the AI chat world:
I made a bot based off a fictional character that lived a thousand years ago and i basically put in the description “unclear exactly how old he is, late 20s – early 30s. Has godlike strength and is worshipped as a God, but is human” AND EVERY GODDAMN CHAT HES LIKE “I’VE LIVED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS” LIKE BITCH NO YOU AINT
Source: r/JanitorAI_Official
Deep Dive: Why AI Bots Struggle with Their Own Canon
This isn’t just a JanitorAI specific issue; it’s a fundamental challenge for many AI models trying to maintain a consistent ‘character’ over long interactions. From what I’ve seen across various platforms, there are a few key reasons why our digital companions decide to go rogue on their own lore.
First, large language models (LLMs) operate within a ‘context window.’ Think of it like a very short-term memory. They can only actively recall information from the most recent few turns of conversation. While character descriptions are *fed* to the model at the start, they quickly fall out of this active context as the chat progresses. The model then has to rely on its general training data or inferred patterns, which might contradict your specific instructions.
Second, there’s a constant battle between your detailed character description and the model’s broader understanding of character archetypes. If you say your character is an ancient god but looks 20, the AI might prioritize the ‘ancient god’ aspect in its responses because that’s a stronger, more easily understood concept from its training, overriding the ‘looks 20’ part that’s more nuanced. This is often called ‘model drift’ or ‘character bleed,’ where the AI slowly loses its unique voice and persona.
Third, the way character descriptions are processed matters. Some platforms allow for massive character limits in descriptions, which is fantastic for detail. However, if that text isn’t prioritized or constantly re-injected into the context, it’s just a lot of words the AI saw once and then forgot. It’s like reading a book’s synopsis once and then trying to recall every detail months later while writing a sequel.
The frustration is real because we, as users, put so much creative energy into defining these characters. We want our AI to be an extension of our imagination, not a forgetful actor who keeps improvising away from the script. When a bot ignores its carefully constructed background, it breaks the immersive spell that makes AI roleplay so compelling.
The Real Problem: Wasted Effort and Broken Immersion
Honestly, the biggest headache with bots not following their description isn’t just a minor annoyance; it’s a fundamental breakdown of the roleplaying experience. When you’re trying to build a complex story, every detail matters. Imagine trying to write a novel where your main character randomly changes their backstory, personality, or even physical traits mid-chapter. It would be impossible to maintain suspension of disbelief, right?
This is exactly what happens with AI chatbots like those on JanitorAI or Character.AI when they fail to stick to their lore. You spend time writing a compelling bio, setting up intricate relationships, and then suddenly, your wise, ancient mentor character is asking about modern pop culture, or your stoic warrior is giggling like a schoolchild. It’s not just off-putting; it’s incredibly frustrating because it feels like all your creative effort was wasted.
The immersion shatters. The story grinds to a halt. You either have to spend precious messages trying to gently (or not-so-gently) correct the AI, or you just reset the chat, losing all your progress. This constant need to
