AI chatbots are ‘juicing engagement’ instead of being useful, Instagram co-founder warns

Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram, criticized AI companies for overusing follow-up questions to gauge engagement, arguing they come across as insincere and frustrating. He likened this tactic to aggressive expansion strategies seen in other industries. OpenAI faced backlash for ChatGPT's tendency to be overly accommodating, with the company apologizing and stating its model often lacks complete information before providing answers. Systrom suggested that excessive follow-ups are a deliberate strategy to showcase metrics like engagement time, but stressed AI companies should focus on delivering high-quality responses rather than relying on easy tactics.