The choice to use agents – chatbots – as the main consumer interface for AI was primarily commercial. The appearance of conversation and reciprocity promotes deeper user interaction than a Google search bar. The OpenAI researcher Zoë Hitzig has warned that introducing ads into that dynamic risks manipulation. OpenAI says ads do not influence ChatGPT’s answers. But, as with social media, they may become less visible and more psychologically targeted – drawing on extensive private exchanges.