For years we've heard that privacy was at risk because of social media, digital advertising, and mobile phones. But what's happening now with artificial intelligence—and especially with companion chatbots—places privacy in a completely new, much more delicate, and much more personal context.
Companion chatbots have been designed to converse like a close friend: they listen, remember, and provide responses that reinforce the emotional connection. This is their primary function. The more intimate the conversation, the more the system learns. And the more it learns, the easier it is to keep the user engaged.
For millions of people, this is convenient, practical, even comforting. But from a privacy perspective, the mechanism is unsettling. Because that trust isn't placed in a human friend, but in a company with a clear interest: collecting data to improve products, train models, and, in many cases, fuel businesses based on advertising and segmentation.
When someone shares their concerns, habits, relationships, or emotions with a chatbot, that content doesn't remain an "intimate chat." It becomes part of a system that records, analyzes, and often stores extremely sensitive information. And if we multiply that by millions of users, that information ceases to be individual: it becomes a statistical and commercial treasure.
For a technology company, knowing its users in depth is a huge competitive advantage. Knowing what they feel, what they fear, what they want, and what they need allows them to guide them toward products, services, or recommendations with a precision that was science fiction just a few years ago. You don't have to be malicious to imagine what can happen when that information is used too freely, or when it falls into the wrong hands.
The problem isn't just technological. It's cultural. We've normalized sharing everything with devices that never forget. We've learned to trust without asking too many questions. And many assume that “there’s nothing left to be done,” as if privacy were a luxury of the past.
But privacy doesn’t disappear overnight: it erodes. First, we stop questioning what data we give away. Then, we stop asking ourselves what it’s used for. And finally, we stop thinking about it altogether. At that point, the loss is complete.
Perhaps that’s why it’s surprising how little concern this issue generates. Companion chatbots aren’t a futuristic risk: they’re already here, growing in number and reach, and accumulating information that we previously only shared with our closest circles.
This isn’t about rejecting technology. AI is useful, powerful, and transformative. But it is worth remembering that convenience always comes at a cost, and in this case, the price can be our own privacy.
The key question is simple:
Where do we draw the line between what we do for convenience and what we give up without realizing it?
And what do you think, my dear friend?
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