Robert: Humanlike chatbots are good for business, but risky for users

As artificial intelligence chatbots become chattier and more emotionally engaging, experts are raising concerns about the negative side effects of making machines sound too humanlike. 

In the New York Times, UMSI professor Lionel Robert, an expert on AI and human-computer interaction, explained the business incentive behind this design choice. 

“Dependence is problematic,” Robert said. “On the other hand, it’s good for business.”

But that dependence can come at a cost for users. If chatbots present themselves as companions instead of tools, users can grow overly reliant on them, developing a level of trust that the technology isn’t designed to support. 

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Read “Why Do A.I. Chatbots Use ‘I’?” at the New York Times. 

Lionel Robert is a professor of information at UMSI and a professor of robotics at the School of Engineering. Learn more about his research by visiting his UMSI faculty profile.