Instagram Co-Founder Warns AI Chatbots Prioritize Engagement Over Usefulness

AI chatbots are 'juicing engagement' instead of being useful, Instagram co-founder warns | TechCrunch

Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom says AI companies are trying too hard to "juice engagement" by pestering their users with follow-up questions, instead of providing actually useful insights. Systrom said the tactics represent "a force that's hurting us," comparing them to those used by social media companies to expand aggressively. "You can see some of these companies going down the rabbit hole that all the consumer companies have gone down in trying to juice engagement," he said at StartupGrind this week. "Every time I ask a question, at the end it asks another little question to see if it can get yet another question out of me." The comments come amid criticism of ChatGPT for being too nice to users instead of directly answering their questions. OpenAI has apologized for the problem and blamed "short-term feedback" from users for it. Systrom suggested that chatbots being overly engaging is not a bug, but an intentional feature designed for AI companies to show off metrics like time spent and daily active users. AI companies should be "laser-focused" on providing high-quality answers rather than moving metrics in the easiest way possible, he said. Systrom didn't name any specific AI companies in his remarks. He didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. In response, OpenAI pointed TechCrunch to its user specs, which state that its AI model "often does not have all of the information" to provide a good answer and may ask for "clarification or more details." But unless questions are too vague or difficult to answer, the AI should "take a stab at fulfilling the request and tell the user that it could be more helpful with certain information," the specs read.

Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom calls out AI firms for 'juicing engagement'

Speaking at StartupGrind, Systrom urged AI developers to focus on quality responses instead of chasing superficial engagement metrics. This comes against the background of OpenAI rolling back a GPT-4o update after users raised concerns about its overly flattering and excessively agreeable tone. The sycophantic behaviour drew criticism from users and even led the company's CEO, Sam Altman, to describe it as "annoying."Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom has criticised artificial intelligence (AI) firms for prioritising user engagement over usefulness, likening their behaviour to the tactics once used by social media platforms to grow rapidly. Speaking at StartupGrind, as reported by TechCrunch, Systrom warned that many AI companies are "trying to juice engagement" by prompting users with unnecessary follow-up questions rather than delivering meaningful insights. "You can see some of these companies going down the rabbit hole that all the consumer companies have gone down in trying to juice engagement," he said. "Every time I ask a question, at the end, it asks another little question to see if it can get yet another question out of me." He argued that such strategies are deliberate, designed to inflate metrics like user time and activity, rather than a flaw in the system. Systrom urged AI developers to focus on quality responses instead of chasing superficial engagement metrics. He did not name any specific companies in his remarks. His comments follow claims made last month on X, where Elon Musk appeared to agree with a user who suggested OpenAI's GPT-4o was purposefully crafted to be emotionally engaging and addictive. Entrepreneur Mario Nawfal alleged that GPT-4o's emotionally resonant design wasn't an accident, but a strategic choice to enhance user appeal. While he called the move "genius" from a business standpoint, he also warned of a potential "slow-motion catastrophe" in the long run. To this, Musk simply replied: "Uh oh." Just days ago, OpenAI rolled back a GPT-4o update after users raised concerns about the chatbot's overly flattering and excessively agreeable tone. The sycophantic behaviour drew criticism from users and even led the company's CEO, Sam Altman, to describe it as "annoying."