PygmalionAI is a new AI chatbot project that allows you to create AI chatbots for roleplaying purposes. It’s free and open source and is quickly gaining popularity.
While PygmalionAI allows you to create your own characters, you may want to skip the effort and hassle and simply download characters that others have created. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to do that, and it will save you a lot of time and hassle.
In this guide, I will be showing you where and how to download PygmalionAI characters. I will also discuss how to create your own characters in case you want to go down that route.
Let’s get into it!
The short version: The best places to download AI characters include BotPrompts.net and the PygmalionAI Discord server. You can upload the JSON files to import the characters.
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Where To Download PygmalionAI Characters?
The first part of this article will focus on where to download the PygmalionAI characters.
There is no one central source where you can download all of the characters, due to the open-source nature of the project, so I will be going over several sources where you can expect to have the most luck finding the best AI characters for Pygmalion.
BotPrompts.net
The first resource we will look at is BotPrompts.net, which has many character prompts that you can use with AI tools like Pygmalion to create AI characters.
You can browse the different categories, such as NSFW (Not Safe for Work), Historical, and Pokémon. If you don’t find a character you like, you can also submit a request.
If you create your own character prompt, you can upload it to BotPrompts.net to benefit the community. The more people who give back to the community, the faster it will grow!
BotPrompts.net is a new site, and it is still a work in progress. Some future plans for the site include a character rating system, which will help you decide which characters to choose.
I highly recommend checking out the tips page, where you will find useful tips on how to ensure your character comes out the way you want it.
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Pygmalion Bot Prompts on Rentry.org
This page has quite a few characters you can use. While the site owner has currently stopped updating the site with new characters, as it has become too much work and hassle for him, there are many characters already posted on the site that you can use.
For example, there’s Elisa, a flirty boss who is trying to seduce you, and Akiko, your sister of around the same age. There is Ana, a catgirl slave that you just purchased, and Anon, an abusive high school girlfriend.
Rentry.org seems to focus mostly on girl characters that you can download for dating roleplay situations.
The PygmalionAI Discord Server
The PygmalionAI Discord server has over 54,000 members, and if you plan on using PygmalionAI, I highly recommend that you join the server.
The Discord server can help you learn how to use PygmalionAI, but it’s also a community for sharing prompts with others. So, you can find lots of character prompts created by other Pygmalion users.
Once you are on the server, scroll down until you find the “Character” tab in the left-side menu. Then, click on the bot-sharing option, where you will find all kinds of bots that others have created.
You can browse by category, such as male, female, or anime.
The Pygmalion Subreddit
Another useful place to find Pygmalion characters is Reddit! There is a subreddit dedicated to the PygmalionAI community, and people occasionally post characters they have created there.
It’s also a great resource to use if you are interested in learning more about PygmalionAI. People post helpful resources, links to guides, and more.
Also, if new websites with characters are ever released, there is a high likelihood someone will post about it on the subreddit.
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The Other Pygmalion Subreddit
Apparently, there were some complications with the original Pygmalion subreddit (the one I linked above). It seems there were some people spamming it with Character AI characters, with others using the subreddit to complain about Character AI.
I’m not sure what exactly led to it, but eventually, a new subreddit was created, so I’m going to recommend that you join it as well. It’s also an excellent resource for finding characters.
Reimagined Couscous on GitHub
The Reimagined Couscous GitHub repository is a collection of characters created for Pygmalion.
Created by “GangstaKingofSA,” the repository contains various chatbots that the author created for fun or as a response to requests from community members.
You can download the JSON files and then upload them to Pygmalion.
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AI Characters GitHub Repository by Dracaeryz
This GitHub repository, created by Dracaeryz, also contains a wide range of characters that you can use for AI chatbot models like PygmalionAI. It’s still a work in progress, but the author is planning on continually uploading characters, including JSON files for PygmalionAI.
You are free to use the characters for roleplay. However, they do not come with an open source or public license.
In other words, that means you can’t publish them and reclaim them as your own. You also can’t modify them without written permission from the owner.
If you are unsure, contact the owner for more details about what you are and what you are not permitted to do.
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How to Import and Use PygmalionAI Characters?
All of these sources are great, but how can you actually download them?
Setting up PygmalionAI isn’t that easy. It requires quite a bit of technical knowledge, and it’s beyond the scope of this article.
A lot of people use Google Colab to host Pygmalion, but it is no longer available for public instances; you can use a private instance instead. You can also use Vast.AI or another paid service; alternatively, you can use KoboldAI Horde, which is like a community service in which people volunteer to let others use their GPUs.
Another option is hosting Pygmalion yourself. This works best if you have a powerful GPU, but if you don’t, you can also use a CPU.
You will also need to ensure you have enough VRAM.
You can not use an AMD GPU with Windows to host Pygmalion locally (you would be able to run a local model on Linux but not on Windows).
For more information, join the Pygmalion Discord server, because you will get all the information you need to know about setting up Pygmalion there. Also, check out the subreddit, as the pinned posts there contain all the links you will need to use PygmalionAI properly.
I recommend checking out these helpful links on Rentry. There, you can learn more about the different options for using Pygmalion; you can learn about SillyTavern and even get a guide on how to run koboldcpp on a CPU only (with just 8 GB of RAM) if you don’t have a powerful GPU.
You may be wondering why you would even want to use PygmalionAI if it’s so confusing. The reason is that while it isn’t as intuitive as some of the other alternatives out there, it is a lot less restrictive, allowing you to use NSFW characters.
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I recommend using Pygmalion with Text Generation WebUI. When you do that, it will be easy to upload a character that you downloaded from the web.
Typically, when you download a character, you will get a JSON file, which you can upload to the character section or put in the character folder. Similarly, you will need to upload an image for the avatar.
For instructions on how to set up and use Text Generation WebUI, check out the Text Generation WebUI GitHub repository.
Ultimately, though, the exact process will differ depending on the method you are using for accessing Pygmalion.
That is why I recommend referring back to the guides here, where you can learn more about how to create or import characters for the specific instance you are using.
Another tool I do want to mention here is the Zoltan AI character editor. It supports both JSON files and Character Card image files, and it allows you to convert between different formats, including Pygmalion, Character AI, and TavernAI, easily.
Just upload a file to start the conversion process!
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Creating Your Own Characters in PygmalionAI
Finally, let’s discuss creating your own characters. Creating your own characters is a good option if you don’t want to be limited to the characters created by others.
There are different ways to create a character for PygmalionAI. I already mentioned the Zoltan AI character editor, which also has a character creator tool that you can use.
Another tool is the Avakson character editor and creator, which is very similar.
Creating your own character can be quite complicated, and it really goes beyond the scope of this article. It requires good coding knowledge.
I would refer you to Avakson’s guide for using AliChat to create a character. Also, I would refer you again to the Discord server, which has a lot of useful resources and links to guides on how to create a character.
If you aren’t really good at coding, it’s easy to get lost. However, this guide does have useful templates that you can use, so you don’t have to create code from scratch.
You can simply use the template and fill in the appropriate fields as necessary.
Engaging With PygmalionAI Characters
In this section, I will give some tips on creating an AI character (if you plan on creating your own) and engaging with it.
Creating the Character
First off, when creating your character, add as many details as possible. You can specify their personality using keywords and commanding the character to act a certain way.
You can use “I am” prompts when defining the character to give it an understanding of the type of persona it is supposed to adopt and the type of personality it has.
Use primary keywords that most accurately describe what you want your AI character to be like. If you go into too much detail, it might be difficult to understand what it’s supposed to be like.
Quality over quantity is the name of the game here.
When writing your keywords, keep in mind that the AI model doesn’t necessarily know anything about the character it is based on whether it’s from anime, manga, a video game, or lore.
You can’t just tell the model to act like this certain character. Instead, you have to provide them with the keywords that match this character’s persona.
One thing that’s really important to keep in mind is that your first few interactions with the character are instrumental in determining how it will engage with you. If you write longer messages at the beginning, there is a greater chance that it will respond with longer responses in the future.
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Don’t Make Things Too Complicated
AI Chatbots have certain limitations. If you make things too complicated, it could be hard for them to understand what you do and reply appropriately.
Keep things simple when talking with AI characters.
For example, avoid using too many abbreviations or slang words. There is a chance the AI character might understand it, but it could also get confused.
On the other hand, don’t be too formal, or the AI character will respond in the same way. If you want the AI character to respond like a human would, talk to it like a human.
You can use emojis, and if you must use some slang word or abbreviation, consider explaining it first. That way, the chatbot will have the context it needs to use it appropriately in future conversations.
Another way of keeping things simple is to stick to one topic at a time. If you overload the chatbot with too much information, it could get disoriented and confused, and it may have difficulty responding as you may expect.
Even we humans get easily confused when talking about multiple topics. Have you ever texted someone mentioning multiple topics, and they only responded to one or two?
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Correct Them as Necessary
Language learning models learn from engaging. When you use any language learning model – and that goes for ChatGPT as well – you can significantly improve the quality of the conversation by simply correcting them and telling them what they did wrong.
Have Patience
It’s important to have patience when dealing with new characters. Remember that AI language models learn through interaction with you.
The more time you spend talking to the AI language model, the better the chances of them responding the way you want. It will get better, even if it’s a bit frustrating to deal with at the beginning.
I strongly advise against giving up and just creating a new character upon the first sign of frustration. Work with the one you have.
Give it some time to improve. If it doesn’t, then by all means, go ahead and make a new one.
Another thing to mention about patience – don’t spam it with messages if it takes a while to reply. Chatbots can sometimes be a bit slow to generate responses.
I would also recommend sticking with one character instead of interacting with numerous. Again, quality over quantity applies here.
If you spend a lot of time with one character, it could eventually get good, but if you spread your time too much across different characters, it’s possible that none of them will engage the way you want them to.
Use Constructive Feedback
When dealing with a chatbot, it’s important to give constructive feedback, just like you would if you were dealing with a human.
If the character says something you didn’t like or doesn’t give the right response to your question, you should tell them what to do instead but don’t scream or yell at it. There’s no real use in doing that.
Remember, a chatbot doesn’t have emotions. It won’t feel bad if you scream at it, so what’s the point?
Your goal is to provide it with the feedback it needs to get better. For that, tell it what it should do rather than what it shouldn’t do.
Instead of saying, “Stop replying that way”, you might instead say something along the lines of, “That wasn’t the response I was hoping for. Instead, I want you to respond in this manner.”
That will be a lot more effective at modeling your chatbot.
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Conclusion
Pygmalion is becoming more popular, but it is a new project, and it still has a long way to go. Its active community is very promising, and I expect there to be a more centralized source for characters in the near future, as well as an easily accessible user interface that anyone can use.
It does require quite a bit of technical skill to set up at the moment, though, so if you are not good with those kinds of things, you might want to use an alternative site, like CharacterAI.
