The co-founder of Instagram says that AI chatbots are “juice engagement” rather than useful.

Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom says AI companies are trying too hard to “juice engage” by troubling users with follow-up questions rather than actually providing useful insights.

Systrom said the tactics represent “the forces that hurt us” and compare them to what social media companies use to actively expand.

“You can see some of these companies going down the rabbit hole where all consumer companies are trying to juice their engagement,” he told Startupgrind this week. “Every time I ask a question, I ask another little question to see if I can get another question at the end.”

Comments come in the midst of ChatGpt’s criticism of being too good for users, rather than directly answering questions. Openai apologised for the issue and denounced “short-term feedback” from users.

Systrom suggested that being overly attractive chatbots is not a bug, but rather an intentional feature designed to help AI companies spend time and show off metrics such as daily active users. AI companies should be “laser centric” by providing high-quality answers, rather than moving metrics in the simplest way possible, he said.

Systrom did not name any particular AI companies in his remarks. He did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In response, Openai directed TechCrunch towards the user specification. This states that AI models “often lack all the information”, providing appropriate answers and may require “clearing or detail.”

However, unless the question is too vague or difficult to answer, AI should “sting by satisfying the request and telling users that certain information could be more useful.”