HUMAN-MACHINE DIALOGUE: OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS OF CHATBOTS

Abstract

Any debate or reflection on the topic of artificial intelligence cannot ignore a careful analysis of the now rising phenomenon of chatbots. Voice assistants on smartphones and PCs, bots for customer service, conversational agents to learn a language or for simple companionship are enjoying a sudden and growing success. The aim of this paper is to outline, as complete as possible, the development of chatbots – starting from the first rudimentary prototypes up to the most sophisticated models, such as Alexa, Cortana and Siri – and the philosophical and legal implications of their use. In particular, the emblematic cases of Replika and ChatGPT will be considered.