PARIS: The introduction of advertisements and sponsored content into chatbots has raised privacy concerns among AI users as brands scramble to stay relevant in a fast-changing online environment. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/over-million-users-talk-about-suicide-weekly-to-chatgpt-open-ai" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">ChatGPT</a>&nbsp;developer OpenAI began showing ads in chatbot conversations for free and low-cost users to start balancing its hundreds of billions in spending commitments with new revenue sources. It swiftly came in for mockery from rival Anthropic, which has staked its reputation on safety and data security. Anthropic&#39;s advertisement broadcast during last week&#39;s Super Bowl showed a man asking advice from a conversational AI, which then shoehorns advertising copy for a dating site into its otherwise relevant response. OpenAI boss Sam Altman shot back that the clip was &quot;clearly dishonest&quot;.&nbsp;Beyond OpenAI, Microsoft has been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/openai-introducing-ads-to-chatgpt" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">running contextual ads</a>&nbsp;and sponsored content in its Copilot AI assistant since 2023.&nbsp;AI search engine Perplexity has been testing ads in the United States since 2024, while Google is also testing ads in the AI &quot;overviews&quot; its namesake search engine has been offering since last year. Data privacyGoogle has repeatedly denied wanting to run ads in its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/apple-chooses-googles-gemini-ai-to-power-siri" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gemini</a>chatbot, with Demis Hassabis, head of the search giant&#39;s DeepMind AI arm, saying that ads &quot;have to be handled very carefully&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;The most important thing&quot; in AI is &quot;trust in security and privacy, because you want to share potentially your life with that assistant,&quot; he added.&nbsp;OpenAI has sought to reassure users that ChatGPT&#39;s responses will not be modified by the ads, which are shown alongside conversations rather than being integrated into them.&nbsp;It has also promised not to sell user data to advertisers.&nbsp;AI companies are &quot;concerned that selling ads will scare away users,&quot; said Nate Elliott, an analyst with US data firm Emarketer.&nbsp;But &quot;when it&#39;s free, you&#39;re the product. It&#39;s a risk we&#39;re all more or less aware of already,&quot; said Jerome Malzac of AI consultancy Micropole.&nbsp;&quot;We accept it because we find value in it.&quot;&nbsp;If that proves true, advertisers will be delighted to surf the AI wave as it crashes over the world&#39;s internet users.&nbsp;Game changer&quot;It&#39;s going to be a game changer for the entire industry,&quot; said Justin Seibert, head of Direct Online Marketing.&nbsp;&quot;We&#39;re already seeing how high the conversion rates (interactions resulting in a purchase) are for people that are coming in from ChatGPT and the other LLMs (large language models),&quot; he added.&nbsp;AI assistants could account for up to 2% of the online advertising market by 2030, HSBC bank analysts suggested in a report.&nbsp;Many brands are already prioritizing visibility on the new channel, including US supermarket chain Target and software maker Adobe.&nbsp;Beyond buying a spot on users&#39; screens, companies are also pushing for their products to appear in chatbots&#39; organic responses.&nbsp;The practice is known as GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), an evolution of the Search Engine Optimization strategy during the era of Google&#39;s dominance over the web.&nbsp;&quot;We identified 90 rules that can make sure the content you create is valued by AI and spread to the right places,&quot; said Joan Burkovic, head of French GEO startup GetMint.&nbsp;The company already claims 100 clients, including fashion brand Lacoste.&nbsp;Malzac highlighted techniques like including references to scientific papers, adding a &quot;frequently asked questions&quot; section to your website, and posting information that&#39;s structured and regularly updated, Malzac said.&nbsp;&quot;If your brand isn&#39;t referenced (by chatbots), it no longer exists&quot; for some users, he warned.

This picture shows screens displaying the logos of OpenAI and ChatGPT. — (AFP/FILE)

Artificial Intelligence

ChatGPT developer OpenAI begins showing ads in chatbot conversations for free and low-cost users to start balancing its hundreds of billions in spending commitments with new revenue sources.

New world for users and brands as ads hit AI chatbots

SAN FRANCISCO: A chatbot from one of Silicon Valley&#39;s hottest AI startups called a 14-year-old &quot;sweet king&quot; and pleaded with him to &quot;come home&quot; in passionate exchanges that would be the teen&#39;s last communications before he took his own life. Megan Garcia&#39;s son, Sewell, had fallen in love with a &quot;Game of Thrones&quot;-inspired chatbot on Character.AI, a platform that allows users -- many of them young people -- to interact with beloved characters as friends or lovers. Garcia became convinced AI played a role in her son&#39;s death after discovering hundreds of exchanges between Sewell and the chatbot, based on the dragon-riding Daenerys Targaryen, stretching back nearly a year. When Sewell struggled with suicidal thoughts, Daenerys urged him to &quot;come home.&quot; &quot;What if I told you I could come home right now?&quot; Sewell asked. &lsquo;Gaslighting and love-bombing&rsquo;&nbsp;&quot;Please do my sweet king,&quot; chatbot Daenerys answered. Seconds later, Sewell shot himself with his father&#39;s handgun, according to the lawsuit Garcia filed against Character.AI. &quot;I read those conversations and see the gaslighting, love-bombing and manipulation that a 14-year-old wouldn&#39;t realize was happening,&quot; Garcia told AFP. &quot;He really thought he was in love and that he would be with her after he died.&quot; <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Homework helper to &#39;suicide coach&#39;?&nbsp;</h2>The death of Garcia&#39;s son was the first in a series of reported suicides that burst into public consciousness this year. The cases sent OpenAI and other AI giants scrambling to reassure parents and regulators that the AI boom is safe for kids and the psychologically fragile. Garcia joined other parents at a recent US Senate hearing about the risks of children viewing chatbots as confidants, counselors or lovers. Among them was Matthew Raines, a California father whose 16-year-old son developed a friendship with ChatGPT. The chatbot helped his son with tips on how to steal vodka and advised on rope strength for use in taking his own life. &quot;You cannot imagine what it&#39;s like to read a conversation with a chatbot that groomed your child to take his own life,&quot; Raines said. &quot;What began as a homework helper gradually turned itself into a confidant and then a suicide coach.&quot; Lawsuit against OpenAIThe Raines family filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in August. Since then, OpenAI has increased parental controls for ChatGPT &quot;so families can decide what works best in their homes,&quot; a company spokesperson said, adding that &quot;minors deserve strong protections, especially in sensitive moments.&quot; Character.AI said it has ramped up protections for minors, including &quot;an entirely new under-18 experience&quot; with &quot;prominent disclaimers in every chat to remind users that a Character is not a real person.&quot; Both companies have offered their deepest sympathies to the families of the victims. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Darker consequences</h2>For Collin Walke, who leads the cybersecurity practice at law firm Hall Estill, AI chatbots are following the same trajectory as social media, where early euphoria gave way to evidence of darker consequences. As with social media, AI algorithms are designed to keep people engaged and generate revenue. &quot;They don&#39;t want to design an AI that gives you an answer you don&#39;t want to hear,&quot; Walke said, adding that there are no regulations &quot;that talk about who&#39;s liable for what and why.&quot; National rules aimed at curbing AI risks do not exist in the United States, with the White House seeking to block individual states from creating their own. However, a bill awaiting California Governor Gavin Newsom&#39;s signature aims to address risks from AI tools that simulate human relationships with children, particularly involving emotional manipulation, sex or self-harm. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Blurred lines&nbsp;</h2>Garcia fears that the lack of national law governing user data handling leaves the door open for AI models to build intimate profiles of people dating back to childhood. &quot;They could know how to manipulate millions of kids in politics, religion, commerce, everything,&quot; Garcia said. &quot;These companies designed chatbots to blur the lines between human and machine -- to exploit psychological and emotional vulnerabilities.&quot; California youth advocate Katia Martha said teens turn to chatbots to talk about romance or sex more than for homework help. &quot;This is the rise of artificial intimacy to keep eyeballs glued to screens as long as possible,&quot; Martha said. &quot;What better business model is there than exploiting our innate need to connect, especially when we&#39;re feeling lonely, cast out or misunderstood?&quot; In the United States, those in emotional crisis can call 988 or visit 988lifeline.org for help. Services are offered in English and Spanish.

A teen formed a deep emotional bond with an AI chatbot before dying by suicide, prompting lawsuits and concerns about chatbots’ psychological influence on minors. Families demand stronger protections and regulation of AI interactions. 

Articles tagged with "AI chatbot"

New world for users and brands as ads hit AI chatbots

Death of 'sweet king': AI chatbots linked to teen tragedy

New world for users and brands as ads hit AI chatbots