How AI chatbots keep you chatting

Millions of people are now using ChatGPT as a therapist, career advisor, fitness coach, or sometimes just a friend to vent to. In 2025, it’s not uncommon to hear about people spilling intimate details of their lives into an AI chatbot’s prompt bar, but also relying on the advice it gives back. Humans are starting to have, for lack of a better term, relationships with AI chatbots, and for Big Tech companies, it’s never been more competitive to attract users to their chatbot platforms — and keep them there. As the “AI engagement race” heats up, there’s a growing incentive for companies to tailor their chatbots’ responses to prevent users from shifting to rival bots. But the kind of chatbot answers that users like — the answers designed to retain them — may not necessarily be the most correct or helpful. AI telling you what you want to hear Much of Silicon Valley right now is focused on boosting chatbot usage. Meta claims its AI chatbot just crossed a billion monthly active users (MAU ... Read full article.