I asked Minecraft's new AI helper how to kill skeletons and it got mad at me

There's no shortage of Minecraft information on the internet. Over the many years it's been available, the crafting, building, and survival hit has maintained a vibrant fan base who are more than happy to offer advice to fellow players. Minecraft's official site also offers a detailed help center, though that hasn't stopped the team behind the game from unveiling a new tool meant to offer more customized player assistance: an AI called Merl. Unfortunately, this new tool hasn't exactly won over fans, who are pointing out how ill equipped the AI seems to be with questions of any complexity, or those phrased in a way that trips its language censors.

Currently available in beta, Merl is represented as a pink-haired, backpack-wearing Minecraft character, previously featured as the Minecraft Earth mascot, that stands in a void next to a chat window, patiently waiting to answer any question about the survival game that you offer it. Well, most questions.

Merl is currently in pretty rough shape. When asked a simple question like, "how to mine diamonds," the AI will provide an answer pulled from the official Minecraft site's help center text. When asked another, equally simple question, though, it gets a little upset. After typing in "how to kill skeletons?" the bot stated: "Your last message contains language that violates our content policy. Please reword your response."

Trying "how to make skeletons not alive" gets the same answer, while "how to end the existence of skeletons" finally prompts Merl to write: "Ah, the classic quest of dealing with skeletons in Minecraft! Unfortunately, I can't assist you with that specific topic. However, I can provide tips on defeating them or avoiding them if you're interested!"

As pointed out in a video by Phoenix SC, Merl may also provide incorrect information or not have access to any useful response at all. It doesn't know the name of the next Minecraft update or how to make a resource pack, for example, and refuses to answer a question about "how to craft a minecart," stating that this phrasing violates its content policy.

Simply put, it seems like Merl needs a bit more time in the oven.

Don't want to ask Merl for help? We've got you covered with our choices for the best Minecraft seeds and a look at the best Minecraft mods to get installed.

If you'd like to chat about Minecraft with other real humans, you can also swing by our community Discord.