You may not notice if an AI chatbot responds with ads. Here’s how to tell

Tech companies have made ads part of nearly every large free web service, video channel, and social media platform. But the latest AI models could take this practice to a new level of risk for consumers.

Hundreds of millions of people consult artificial intelligence chatbots on a daily basis for everything from product recommendations to romance, making them a tempting audience to target with potentially below-the-radar advertising. Indeed, our research suggests AI chatbots could easily be used for covert advertising to manipulate their human users.