Why AI Assistants Make Privacy Feel Uncomfortable

[madtrader]

AI assistants promise convenience, but they come with an uneasy tradeoff: intimacy for data. To be useful, tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT require users to share thoughts, plans, and personal details — information that ultimately sits with the company running the model. With advertising already being tested, it’s not hard to imagine chatbot conversations becoming just another data source, much like those powering Facebook or Google.

What makes this especially sensitive is the conversational format itself. Chat interfaces encourage openness in a way search boxes never did, blurring the line between productivity tool and private confessional. As AI becomes more embedded in daily life, concerns about who sees that data — and how it’s monetized — are no longer hypothetical.

[nihalsari]

chatbots really do feel more like journaling than searching, that’s the weird part