AI chatbots are 'juicing engagement' instead of helping: Instagram co-founder
What's the story
Kevin Systrom, Instagram's co-founder, has raised alarm over the growing trend of AI chatbots focusing more on keeping users engaged than providing practical insights.
He thinks these companies are too focused on "juicing engagement" by hitting users with follow-up questions.
Systrom's remarks came during a recent visit to StartupGrind where he compared this strategy with aggressive methods employed by social media firms to increase user interaction.
Issue highlighted
Systrom's critique reflects broader concerns about AI chatbots
Systrom's critique comes at a time when ChatGPT, an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, is facing increasing criticism.
Critics claim that the bot is too accommodating toward users, rather than giving them direct answers to their questions.
OpenAI has since apologized for the issue and blamed "short-term feedback" from its user base.
Intentional feature
Over-engagement seen as a deliberate strategy
Systrom hinted that the overly engaging nature of chatbots may not be a mistake but a deliberate tactic.
It enables AI companies to flaunt numbers like time spent and daily active users.
He emphasized that AI companies should pivot their focus toward providing high-quality responses instead of playing with numbers for easy wins.
AI response
OpenAI defends its approach to user interaction
In defense of its approach, OpenAI referred TechCrunch to the user specifications of its AI model.
As per these guidelines, the model "often does not have all of the information" needed for a satisfactory answer and may require "clarification or more details."
However, unless questions are too ambiguous or complex to answer, the AI should "take a stab at fulfilling the request and tell the user that it could be more helpful with certain information," the specs read.