Roblox launches real-time AI chat rework to filter out banned language

Roblox is introducing an AI-powered real-time chat paraphrase feature that automatically replaces banned words with more respectful language, the company announced Thursday.

The new feature goes beyond Roblox’s current text filter, which simply replaces banned words and phrases with the “#” symbol. But Roblox says that when users encounter strings of “####,” conversations can get stuck and difficult to follow.

Now, instead of just displaying hashtags, the filtered text will be rephrased into language that is more respectful and close to the user’s original intent.

For example, a message that reads “Hurry TF up!” It would previously appear as “####”, but will now be renamed to “Hurry!” Roblox says everyone in the chat is notified that the message has been rephrased to keep the conversation civil.

“Chat is fundamental to how people communicate, coordinate and play on Roblox,” said Rajeev Bhatia, vice president of user and product discovery at Roblox, in a press release. “Real-time paraphrasing helps keep gameplay and conversations on track while steering language toward what’s appropriate. This approach reduces friction in chat while maintaining standards that help keep our community civil.”

Roblox notes that while the recast reduces some of the chat disruption, its security system remains in place for more serious behavior.

The new feature is supported in all languages ​​currently available through Roblox’s automatic translation tools.

The company is also updating its text filtering system to detect more variations of the banned language. Roblox says early results show the system is getting better at detecting speech, and more sophisticated attempts to get past filters. This has allowed the company to reduce the prevalence of false negatives when personal information is shared or requested by 20-fold.

Thursday’s announcement comes shortly after Roblox introduced mandatory facial verification to access chats on its platform following a wave of lawsuits over child safety from attorneys general in Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana and others. The lawsuits were filed in response to reports that Roblox was exposing young users to serious risks, such as grooming and explicit content.