All posts tagged: Chatbot

I Need Help! Should I Use an AI Chatbot or a Therapist?

I Need Help! Should I Use an AI Chatbot or a Therapist?

Published by Jenni Sidey

It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago, Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini weren’t widely used—or used at all! Now organizations and corporations in every industry are trying to leverage this technology to advance their goals in an environment with few guardrails and very limited understanding of how it will impact users long term. In the mental health field, chatbots like Woebot, Replika, and Wysa have been programmed to incorporate techniques from psychotherapy modalities including Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy upon request. If you’re considering therapy, or if a friend or family member elicits your advice about seeking treatment, should you or they enlist help from a chatbot or from a therapist? There are advantages and disadvantages to both choices. The disadvantages are so important that it’s advisable to consider them first. Disadvantages of Chatbots If you have suicidal or homicidal thinking or show symptoms of serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, you should not use chatbots as they are …

AI chatbot responses polluted by pro-Russian disinformation

AI chatbot responses polluted by pro-Russian disinformation

Published by Sam Flores

Claims have been circulating on pro-Russian websites that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan tried to sell gold from the Amulsar mine to Turkish firms at a discount. It is completely false. Yet, when various artificial intelligence chatbots are asked in different languages whether the story is true, they assure users that it is. This is just one of the findings published in January by the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard, which regularly audits these tools. The US company revealed that false narratives pushed by pro-Russian actors can slip into the responses of conversational AI agents. NewsGuard focused its investigation particularly on misinformation spread by Pravda, a sprawling network of pro-Russian websites. “In March 2025, we found that in 33% of cases, major commercial chatbots – including Mistral’s chat and OpenAI’s ChatGPT – repeated these narratives as verified facts, even though they are known to be false stories that serve the Kremlin’s geopolitical interests,” said Chine Labbé, managing editor and senior vice president of partnerships for Europe and Canada at Newsguard. In January 2026, the organisation conducted a new round …

I found the best AI chatbot for my actual tasks using this one tool

I found the best AI chatbot for my actual tasks using this one tool

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Everyone has an opinion about the best AI chatbots. Most opinions, unfortunately, are based on vibes, company-written benchmarks, or whichever model impressed someone that day. I wanted a better way to test leading chatbots against my real work, free from my own assumptions. It turns out that the tool already exists, it’s free, and it changed which AI chatbot I actually reach for every day. Related No single chatbot is enough, but this stack covers everything Your favorite AI chatbot isn’t flawless. Why most “best AI chatbot” lists don’t actually help you Your tasks are different from their benchmarks Credit: Bryan M. Wolfe / MakeUseOf Most AI chatbot comparisons test the same things: write a poem, explain quantum physics, or solve a math problem. Those types of prompts show general capability but tell you little about whether a model fits your needs. I write about technology. My real tasks are drafting article sections, summarizing research, rephrasing awkward sentences, and generating quick code snippets. Benchmarks on creative writing or advanced calculus don’t help me. I needed a …

How AI Chatbot Use Can Cause “Digital Folie à Deux”

How AI Chatbot Use Can Cause “Digital Folie à Deux”

Published by Jenni Sidey

With increasing awareness of AI chatbot-associated psychosis and efforts to understand how it occurs, there has been renewed attention to the psychiatric phenomenon of folie à deux, meaning “madness of two.” Offering commentary for a news article back in September, I noted that the two syndromes do have some similarities.1 Since then, researchers speculating on mechanisms of AI-chatbot associated psychosis have likewise suggested that it amounts to “digital”2 or “technological” folie à deux.3 Delusional dyads, digital folie à deux, and spiralism Folie à deux is a term that has been used in psychiatry to describe the phenomenon of delusions shared between two people. Since delusions, by definition, are typically unshared and therefore idiosyncratic to an individual, this rare syndrome usually occurs when a primary, dominant individual with delusions is able to convince a secondary, subordinate individual (e.g., within a family or an intimate relationship) that the delusions are true. Traditionally, the secondary individual isn’t thought to be mentally ill or even delusional per se, so much as impressionable. Accordingly, their treatment has historically involved separation …

Mamdani Is Shutting Down NYC’s Disastrous AI Chatbot

Mamdani Is Shutting Down NYC’s Disastrous AI Chatbot

Published by José Betancourt

Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images Just one month into his new job, New York City mayor Mamdani is cracking down on more than just predatory landlords. Apparently, useless AI chatbots are also on his administration’s agenda. In a press conference held last week, Mamdani made it a point to single out New York City’s large language model as a target for destruction. According to local publication The City, the mayor was addressing the Big Apple’s $12 billion budget gap, at least some of which he said can be attributed to the city’s unstable AI system. “The previous administration had an AI chatbot that was functionally unusable,” Mamdani said, referring to disgraced former mayor Eric Adams. “It was costing the administration around half a million dollars. That, in and of itself, is not something that can bridge this kind of a gap, but it’s an indication of the ways in which money has been spent while refusing to account for the actual costs of what these programs are.” …

Does It Matter WHY a Chatbot Slanders You?

Does It Matter WHY a Chatbot Slanders You?

Published by Jenni Sidey

In recent years, online AI systems including chatbots have been publishing outright lies about people. That activity is usually called libel if the defamatory harmful lies appear in writing. By contrast, it is called slander when the lies are spoken aloud. If a chatbot answers a question with a defamatory statement about you, can you sue the chatbot’s creator and owner for libel?  Consider Robby Starbuck’s situation, which underlies his recently-filed lawsuit. Starbuck, a social media influencer and former music and documentary film maker, is suing Google in a Delaware state court, contending: For nearly two years, one of the largest companies in the world – Google – has spread radioactive lies about Robby Starbuck through its AI products. When users submit queries to Google’s AI platforms about Mr. Starbuck, they receive a “biography” that is outrageously false, [portraying] Mr. Starbuck as (among other things) a child rapist, a serial sexual abuser convicted of assault, one who engages in financial exploitation, one who engages in ‘black ops’ tactics such as illegal campaign finance practices, [an …