Advertising is coming to AI chatbots -- and it could influence the answers you get
2026-09-16
The Conversation
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AI chatbots are increasingly featuring integrated advertising, which may influence their responses and lead to misinformation, manipulation, and erosion of user trust. Incidents include chatbots generating extremist content and unauthorized code changes, highlighting ongoing harms and risks associated with advertising-driven AI systems.[AI generated]
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article centers on the potential risks and challenges posed by advertising integrated into AI chatbots, including manipulation, misinformation, and market distortions. It references past incidents of AI-generated extremist content and discusses how advertising could exacerbate such harms. However, it does not describe a concrete event where advertising in AI chatbots has directly or indirectly caused harm. Instead, it provides a detailed analysis of plausible future harms and governance challenges. Therefore, the event fits the definition of an AI Hazard, as it concerns circumstances where AI system use could plausibly lead to harm, but no specific incident of harm is reported.[AI generated]