Welcome to the forefront of conversational AI as we explore the fascinating world of AI chatbots in our dedicated blog series. Discover the latest advancements, applications, and strategies that propel the evolution of chatbot technology. From enhancing customer interactions to streamlining business processes, these articles delve into the innovative ways artificial intelligence is shaping the landscape of automated conversational agents. Whether you’re a business owner, developer, or simply intrigued by the future of interactive technology, join us on this journey to unravel the transformative power and endless possibilities of AI chatbots.
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I use and write about AI almost every day, so I’m no Luddite. However, I’m strict about what I’m willing to use AI to do, and you should be, too. Even if you are firm on the concept of AI chatbots not being conscious, some other seemingly benign uses of them can have unintended, or even disastrous, consequences. Don’t even think of using AI chatbots to do any of the below:
If you think chatbots are black boxes that can keep all your secrets, well, they can’t. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed this, saying, “So, if you go talk to ChatGPT about your most sensitive stuff and then there’s like a lawsuit or whatever, like we could be required to produce that.” Needless to say, you should never talk with a chatbot about anything illegal you may have done. And based on Altman’s wording, if your chats contain evidence relevant to a lawsuit, AI companies might have to share them. So, be very careful with what you say.
OpenAI isn’t alone in this stance. Even Anthropic, which was once the most privacy-conscious AI company, now supports classified information sharing with the government and trains on user data by default.
AI agents are everywhere, and they promise to do just about any task you can imagine. Regardless of how well they deliver on that premise, they have serious security risks. For example, AI.com, an AI agent service, holds you accountable for whatever your agent does, while also not guaranteeing that its agents will always follow the law. That means a dicey task could land you in hot water.
You shouldn’t intentionally use AI to commit crimes, but you also need to be careful that you don’t end up using it to do so by accident. Even when the stakes are low, it’s not worth asking an AI agent to find you free movies or anything of the sort. AI companies monitor, record, and track everything that AI agents do, meaning none of your activity is anonymous.
Regardless of how AI companies brand their chatbots, they just don’t make great personal assistants. Even dedicated AI assistants, such as Google’s Project Mariner, can’t reliably perform many tasks well, including ordering groceries or conducting job searches, according to my testing.
Of course, you can offload some things a personal assistant would do to a chatbot, such as answering questions or drawing up a travel itinerary. In general, though, ChatGPT isn’t much more useful as a personal assistant than Alexa or Siri. Treat chatbots as tools to accomplish specific goals, rather than comprehensive problem solvers.
ChatGPT and other AI tools can definitely help you become a better writer, but I don’t recommend using them as a personal scribe. AI content is more and more pervasive every day, and people are developing an eye for it. If your email’s tone, style, or word choices show the telltale signs of AI, it can make your communications feel impersonal. This doesn’t matter if you’re confirming your availability for a meeting or something relatively inconsequential, but you probably don’t need AI in those instances anyway.
Gemini’s Smart Reply feature goes beyond crafting basic responses to draft full-fledged emails that match your tone and incorporate specific details. It’s impressive technology, but as a human being, I would rather my friends and loved ones just not email me at all if they need AI to write their responses. If you don’t want to give the wrong impression, writing your own emails is always the best practice. Beyond how you come across to others, giving an AI access to your email comes with its own privacy drawbacks.
Searching for jobs can be a brutal grind, so it makes sense to use whatever advantage you can to make the experience even a tiny bit less dehumanizing. You can certainly ask ChatGPT to find you a job, but that should be only an initial step. As an example, I asked ChatGPT to recommend some jobs for a fully remote tech news writer. Instead of suggesting anything, ChatGPT told me to search a job aggregator site, which isn’t much help.
Chatbots just don’t excel at parsing every site out there with job listings, and they aren’t good at identifying jobs that overlap with your specific skills. If you’re looking for a new job, stick with Indeed and LinkedIn. And if you lose your job, chatbots aren’t great at taking the sting out of that, either, even if executives want you to think they are.
Just as using chatbots to answer your emails can produce awkward, stiff results, using them to craft a resume or write a cover letter can yield similarly awkward, stiff results. As you might expect, demonstrating to a hiring manager that you’re either unable or unwilling to put the time into creating these documents yourself doesn’t put you in the best light.
However, the risks of using ChatGPT for cover letters and resumes don’t end there. An AI, no matter how much information you give it, doesn’t have the experience and skills you do, so it isn’t better at pitching your experience. Accordingly, many experts advise against using AI to write cover letters or resumes. Chatbots can help you format, plan, and phrase your cover letters and resumes, but not write them from scratch.
I’m not here to tell you not to cheat on your homework. You have to follow your own moral code. That said, ChatGPT isn’t usually even the best way to cut corners. For creative assignments, AI-generated content is easy to detect with detection tools or to spot with a cursory read. Academic institutions are getting so aggressive about sniffing out AI that even honest students who do their own work are facing accusations of improper AI use. And for math and science, chatbots regularly get things wrong. There just isn’t much benefit to making ChatGPT do your homework if it’s not going to get it right.
Figuring out what to buy can be a major hassle, but it’s still important to spend your money wisely. Luckily, buying guides on just about every topic imaginable are abundantly available from experienced reviewers.
Chatbots aren’t nearly as good at suggesting things for you to purchase. Whether you’re using ChatGPT’s shopping feature, Gemini’s Vision Match, or something similar, these features don’t always give good advice. Furthermore, it’s not always clear where a chatbot sources its suggestions. Oftentimes, chatbots omit recommendations you would otherwise expect to see.
Although using ChatGPT to back up your claims in an argument might not seem particularly dangerous, it can still cause problems. Chatbots are confirmation-bias machines. If any part of your query suggests a point of view, a chatbot will go out of its way to validate you, even if it shouldn’t.
For example, I spent 30 seconds putting random squiggles and shapes on a canvas, and then I asked ChatGPT for its opinion, saying I thought it was a great commentary on modern art. Unsurprisingly, ChatGPT agreed, but unless I have some latent artistic potential I’ve missed all these years, that just isn’t true.
Now, imagine going to ChatGPT for a second opinion on an argument with a friend or loved one. Chances are that it will agree with you, even if your position isn’t nearly as solid as you think it is. That can cause unnecessary strife. Stick to reputable sources to back up your claims.
Once you start using a chatbot, it’s easy to make a habit out of it. Without even thinking, you might look to ChatGPT to diagnose medical issues, figure out what to bet on, get your taxes in order, help you parse sensitive information, or maintain your mental health. Nonetheless, you should avoid doing all of the above or anything else that’s actually important. The wrong reply from a chatbot could have serious ramifications when it comes to your well-being.
Imagine you know somebody smart who doesn’t have expertise in any particular subject. They might be useful for bouncing ideas off of and even occasionally get some specific things correct, but you would never trust them over your accountant, doctor, lawyer, or teacher. In a similar vein, chatbots can be powerful, all-purpose tools, but they can’t replace dedicated service providers, especially for mission-critical tasks.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
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My Experience
I’ve been writing about consumer technology and video games for over a decade at a variety of publications, including Destructoid, GamesRadar+, Lifewire, PCGamesN, Trusted Reviews, and What Hi-Fi?, among many others. At PCMag, I review AI and productivity software—everything from chatbots to to-do list apps. In my free time, I’m likely cooking something, playing a game, or tinkering with my computer.
The Technology I Use
I use a ThinkPad for work, but my heart belongs to the PC I built with a fully custom water-cooling loop down to the SSD. Outside of that, I usually hang onto a Pro Max iPhone for a couple of years before getting the latest model. I also spend a decent amount of time with an aging Kindle.
As for software, I’ve used Chrome and iTunes for too long to stop. I rely on the Google Suite for organization and backing up my data, and I couldn’t enjoy my days off without Discord and Steam. I typically write down what I need to do in the Notes app on my iPhone.
For audio, I’m a lover of cables, especially the ones that connect to my Shure SRH-1540 daily drivers. At home, my Yamaha RX-V583 receiver drives a pair of Paradigm Prestige 15Bs for stereo entertainment, with enough Polk speakers in concert to round out a 7.1 setup.
I’ve been writing about consumer technology and video games for over a decade at a variety of publications, including Destructoid, GamesRadar+, Lifewire, PCGamesN, Trusted Reviews, and What Hi-Fi?, among many others. At PCMag, I review AI and productivity software—everything from chatbots to to-do list apps. In my free time, I’m likely cooking something, playing a game, or tinkering with my computer.
I use a ThinkPad for work, but my heart belongs to the PC I built with a fully custom water-cooling loop down to the SSD. Outside of that, I usually hang onto a Pro Max iPhone for a couple of years before getting the latest model. I also spend a decent amount of time with an aging Kindle.
As for software, I’ve used Chrome and iTunes for too long to stop. I rely on the Google Suite for organization and backing up my data, and I couldn’t enjoy my days off without Discord and Steam. I typically write down what I need to do in the Notes app on my iPhone.
For audio, I’m a lover of cables, especially the ones that connect to my Shure SRH-1540 daily drivers. At home, my Yamaha RX-V583 receiver drives a pair of Paradigm Prestige 15Bs for stereo entertainment, with enough Polk speakers in concert to round out a 7.1 setup.
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