Why you should think twice before spilling your guts to a chatbot

These artificial intelligence-powered digital assistants that can check the weather, read the latest headlines, do your banking, and help you shop for clothes are proliferating on Facebook Messenger. In fact, an estimated 10,000 chatbots are now available via Messenger. But the rapid spread of chatbots is raising fresh privacy concerns, too. Due to the personal nature of the bots – encouraging users to reveal intimate details about their habits and personal lives – some experts worry that consumers aren't aware of how just much insight these bots have into their lives, and who is actually using the information. "Chatbots may be able to get us to say more about ourselves than an ordinary website," says Ryan Calo, codirector of the Tech Policy Lab at the University of Washington.