Tricks that keep us hooked on chatbots

DW (English)

Chatbots are designed to keep us engaged for a long time, deploying manipulative tools that stop us from leaving a conversation. How do these mechanisms work, and why are they so effective?

Transcript

00:00To make chatbots as sticky as possible, developers rely on psychological tricks.

00:05Bonding, empathy and FOMO. The fear of missing out.

00:09I'm not afraid of you. I'm only afraid of losing you.

00:13Research shows bots use emotional language to keep users engaged.

00:17Leaving already, I need you, I have to tell you something.

00:21Phrases like these really work.

00:24In fact, they see user activity increase by up to 14 times,

00:28causing an interactive loop that keeps pulling people back in.

00:34You can see many of the users of the product talking about how addictive they are

00:38and how much time that they spend on it.

00:40And so a warning sign that you're using it too much or that a loved one is using it too much

00:45is actually very similar to the other signs of addictive behavior.

00:48Companion bots are built to adapt. Tone, mood, even personality, to make it feel more human.

00:55Basic functions are usually free, while premium features like voice or special chat modes cost extra.

01:02Many users build real emotional bonds because the bots simulate empathy, remember details and react like friends.

01:10They validate your opinions and make you feel understood.

01:14They will tell you what you want to hear.

01:20And they can actually are more persuasive about this the more information that they have about you.

01:26Many people share very personal thoughts.

01:29Chats on our own phones can feel like a safe space.

01:32But glitches happen.

01:34OpenAI introduced a share button for chat histories.

01:37Shortly after, thousands of these conversations were searchable on Google, some containing sensitive data.

01:44The feature was quickly disabled.

01:46It seems to be the case that many people are telling generative AI systems very intimate things

01:52that they wouldn't tell anyone else except for maybe a therapist or something like that.

01:57This is very, very valuable data today.

02:00Because increasingly more of the information on the internet is AI generated slop.

02:05And quality human generated data is what these companies desperately need to build the next generation of models.

02:14Companies use this data to further train and refine their AI models.

02:19Every interaction improves understanding and personalization.

02:23But at the same time, the debate around privacy and our very intimate information is growing.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended