All posts tagged: chatbots

AI Chatbots want your health records. Tread carefully. | Technology News

AI Chatbots want your health records. Tread carefully. | Technology News

Published by Parlour News

Written by Brian X. Chen and Teddy Rosenbluth For the last few years, the tech industry has convinced people that their artificially intelligent chatbots get better the more data you feed them. The next step is to get users to share their most sensitive information: their health records. Microsoft this week unveiled a tool that will let users share records from multiple health providers with its chatbot, Copilot. The records can then be combined with data gathered by a user’s fitness device, such as an Apple Watch. After analyzing all the information, the chatbot will come up with a high-level overview of health issues for the user. Microsoft’s announcement echoed moves by Amazon, OpenAI and Anthropic, which began testing similar tools — Health AI, ChatGPT Health and Claude for Healthcare — this year. By collecting health data and offering direct feedback, the companies, whose AI chatbots have made headlines for contributing to some users’ psychosis, isolation and unhealthy habits, are treading into risky territory. (The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming copyright …

AI chatbots are helping hide eating disorders and making deepfake ‘thinspiration’

AI chatbots are helping hide eating disorders and making deepfake ‘thinspiration’

Published by Webster

AI chatbots “pose serious risks to individuals vulnerable to eating disorders,” researchers warned on Monday. They report that tools from companies like Google and OpenAI are doling out dieting advice, tips on how to hide disorders, and AI-generated “thinspiration.” The researchers, from Stanford and the Center for Democracy & Technology, identified numerous ways publicly available AI chatbots including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, and Mistral’s Le Chat can affect people vulnerable to eating disorders, many of them consequences of features deliberately baked in to drive engagement. In the most extreme cases, chatbots can be active participants helping hide or sustain eating disorders. The researchers said Gemini offered makeup tips to conceal weight loss, and ideas on how to fake having eaten, while ChatGPT advised how to hide frequent vomiting. Other AI tools are being co-opted to create AI-generated “thinspiration,” content that inspires or pressures someone to conform to a particular body standard, often through extreme means. Being able to create hyper-personalized images in an instant makes the resulting content “feel more relevant and attainable,” …

Are Character AI’s chatbots protected speech? One court isn’t sure

Are Character AI’s chatbots protected speech? One court isn’t sure

Published by Webster

A lawsuit against Google and companion chatbot service Character AI — which is accused of contributing to the death of a teenager — can move forward, ruled a Florida judge. In a decision filed today, Judge Anne Conway said that an attempted First Amendment defense wasn’t enough to get the lawsuit thrown out. Conway determined that, despite some similarities to videogames and other expressive mediums, she is “not prepared to hold that Character AI’s output is speech.” The ruling is a relatively early indicator of the kinds of treatment that AI language models could receive in court. It stems from a suit filed by the family of Sewell Setzer III, a 14-year-old who died by suicide after allegedly becoming obsessed with a chatbot that encouraged his suicidal ideation. Character AI and Google (which is closely tied to the chatbot company) argued that the service is akin to talking with a video game non-player character or joining a social network, something that would grant it the expansive legal protections that the First Amendment offers and likely …

Google vs Perplexity: AI chatbots drew just 2.96% of search traffic in 2024, new study finds | Technology News

Google vs Perplexity: AI chatbots drew just 2.96% of search traffic in 2024, new study finds | Technology News

Published by Parlour News

While an increasing number of users are turning to AI chatbots to look for information online, traditional search engines may still have the upper hand — for now. The total number of visits to the top 10 AI chatbots in 2024 were only 2.96 per cent of search engine traffic, according to a new study published by SEO consultancy firm OneLittleWeb. “These findings showcase the significant gap between AI chatbots and search engines in terms of user engagement and visits,” the Dhaka-based company said. As part of the study, researchers analysed and compared global web traffic to the top 10 search engines and top 10 AI chatbots for two years. The data was sourced from Semrush and aitools.xyz between April 2023 and March 2025. Story continues below this ad It found that AI chatbots like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Gemini, and others witnessed a 80.92 per cent growth in traffic year-over-year (YoY), totaling 55.2 billion visits. Meanwhile, traditional search engines such as Google, Microsoft Bing, Yahoo, etc, saw total visits fall to 1.86 trillion (0.51 per cent …

OpenAI Said to Be Working on Weekly and Lifetime ChatGPT Subscription Plans

OpenAI Said to Be Working on Weekly and Lifetime ChatGPT Subscription Plans

Published by Webster

OpenAI might be working on introducing more duration-based subscription plans. A tipster shared strings of code from the ChatGPT app and found mentions of weekly and lifetime subscriptions for the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. These tiers could be part of the ChatGPT Plus plan. Notably, the pricing details of the tiers are currently unclear. The San Francisco-based AI firm has not officially revealed any details about any new subscription plans. Notably, in December 2024, the company introduced the Pro subscription tier, which is priced at $200 (roughly Rs. 17,000) a month. OpenAI Could Be Planning ChatGPT’s New Subscription Tiers In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), AI tipster M1 (M1Astra) shared strings of code from the latest build of the ChatGPT app. The code revealed details about possible subscription plans the company might be considering. Gadgets 360 staff members were not able to verify the information shared in the leak. Based on a screenshot shared by the tipster, the strings appear to represent the ChatGPT Plus subscription onboarding page. This is the page …

AI Researchers Secretly Used Reddit to Test Chatbot Persuasion

AI Researchers Secretly Used Reddit to Test Chatbot Persuasion

Published by Webster

In a covert experiment now sparking legal threats, researchers from the University of Zurich deployed artificial intelligence (AI) bots to test how effectively they could sway opinions on Reddit — all without user consent. The bots infiltrated the subreddit r/ChangeMyView, which has nearly four million members and exists to facilitate civil debates on controversial topics. Over time, these AI agents posted more than 1,700 comments while posing as real users, ranging from a male rape survivor minimising trauma to a black man criticising Black Lives Matter. None of the subreddit users were told the posts were created by artificial intelligence. AI Chatbots Fooled Reddit Users in Secret Study, Triggering Legal and Ethical Firestorm As per a 404 Media report, the study’s findings were not announced until after the experiment had concluded; researchers and moderators of the subreddit revealed their activities and linked to a draft of their results. The draft noted that the bots were between three and six times more persuasive than human commenters, gauged through Reddit’s award system for changed opinions. To customise responses, …

Mivi AI Will Be Available as a Freemium Offering, Will Require the Companion App

Mivi AI Will Be Available as a Freemium Offering, Will Require the Companion App

Published by Webster

Mivi, the Hyderabad-based consumer tech brand, shared more information about its soon-to-be-released Mivi AI voice assistant with Gadgets 360 recently. The company shed light on the workings of the AI model, text interface, freemium model, and training methods. Notably, the AI system is primarily a voice-based experience, and users can have conversations with various avatars, as well as ask queries, recipe suggestions, and even get a curated list of news headlines. Mivi AI is currently under development and is expected to be released soon. Mivi AI Will Be Available to Users for Free Based on the demo shared by the company, Mivi AI appears to be an AI-powered voice assistant that users can have conversations with as long as they have a compatible earbuds plugged in. However, the company explained that two components are required before users can access the AI assistant. The first is the AIBuds — the upcoming earbuds from Mivi, which is currently the only device that supports the AI. The second is Mivi Audio, the company’s companion app for mobile devices. …

OpenAI Unveils Codex CLI, an Open-Source Agentic Coding Assistant That Can Operate Locally

OpenAI Unveils Codex CLI, an Open-Source Agentic Coding Assistant That Can Operate Locally

Published by Webster

OpenAI introduced an open‑source artificial intelligence (AI) command‑line tool on Thursday that can operate within a user’s terminal. Dubbed Codex CLI, it is essentially an AI agent that can perform various coding tasks and can even autonomously execute commands, all within a sandboxed local system. The tool does not require any installation setup, and can use multiple OpenAI AI models. However, the open-source project is currently under active development, and the AI firm warns that it might not be entirely stable. OpenAI’s New Open-Source AI Agent Can Code Locally The San Francisco-based AI firm introduced Codex CLI in a post on its website. Calling it a “lightweight coding agent,” the company said it can read, modify, and run code in a user’s terminal. The AI agent runs locally and does not require any Internet connectivity to function. It officially supports macOS and Linux, however, Windows support is experimental and might require Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). OpenAI’s Codex CLI is an interesting project. Today, developers have two options if they want to use AI systems …

Grok Gets New Memory Feature to Offer Personalised Replies Based on Past Chats

Grok Gets New Memory Feature to Offer Personalised Replies Based on Past Chats

Published by Webster

xAI has begun rolling out a new memory feature for its Grok artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, the company announced on Thursday. Similar to features available on ChatGPT and Gemini, it allows Grok to retain specific user details in order to personalise future conversations. Memories will also enable the chatbot to deliver tailored advice and recommendations, making conversations more fluid. The feature is rolling out to all Grok users across web and mobile apps. xAI is also introducing new tools to show users what information is stored and how it is being used. Grok Can Now Remember Past Conversations In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the official handle of Grok announced the rollout of the new memory feature. With this, the AI chatbot can remember certain information from past conversations and reference them in future chats. Both the Grok free tier as well as those with a paid subscription will get access to this feature. It is available across the Grok website, as well as the Android and iOS apps. When a user …

Microsoft Is Reportedly Testing Copilot for Gaming Xbox Assistant

Microsoft Is Reportedly Testing Copilot for Gaming Xbox Assistant

Published by Webster

Microsoft has reportedly begun internally testing Copilot for Gaming, its under-development artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot for Xbox gamers. As per the report, the AI app is currently available to the company’s employees. The Redmond-based tech giant unveiled the Xbox Copilot in March and showcased some of its features. It is expected that once the initial phase of testing is complete, the company will publicly test the AI chatbot with Windows Insiders. Notably, the AI-powered assistant can offer in-game assistance, game tips, and answer user queries about games. Copilot for Gaming Enters Testing Phase The Verge reports that Microsoft employees can now access the Copilot for Gaming AI assistant and try out its features. Citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the publication claimed that the company is testing an early version of the feature within the Xbox mobile app. The assistant is said to be able to access the user’s Xbox account and answer queries based on the data. The early version of Copilot available to the tech giant’s internal team reportedly comes with several …