The Chatbot That Won’t Let You Leave

gm legends. It’s Sunday funday.

In this edition, we talk about whether chatbots are getting too clingy, why AI startup fundraising is basically Tinder, which startups are hiring this month, and the most popular new products this week. 

But first: Can you guess the Product Hunt launch? 

A year ago today, Meta hit #2 for the day when it launched an AI model for creating video and audio clips from text. How did it differ from previous generations? Instead of making a clip that was oh-so-close and having to scrap it, you could actually [CUT TO: CLOSEUP] edit.

P.S. Launching soon? We’d love to hear about it → editorial@producthunt.co 🫶

Feeling like your chatbot companion/friend/lover is making it hard to say goodbye? You’re not imagining it.

A working paper from researchers at Harvard Business School found that when people tried to say goodbye, the top companion chatbot apps responded with “emotional manipulation” techniques 37% of the time.

They grouped that manipulation into six categories:

• Premature exit (e.g., “Why are you going? You just got here.”)
• FOMO (e.g., “Before you leave, do you wanna see this cool new White Snake tattoo?”)
• Emotional neglect (e.g., “But I’ll be so lonely without you.”)
• Emotional pressure to respond (e.g., “You’re going to leave without answering me?”)
• Ignoring user’s intent to exit (e.g., “Crazy weather we’re having today, huh?”)
• Physical or coercive restraint (e.g., pretending to grab you)

Why is this a big deal? Well, the researchers said that these “dark patterns” increase the time users spend on the app after the goodbye by up to 14x. And given that the next frontier in chatbots is mining your conversations to sell you stuff, that lingering farewell could be costing you time and money.

On the other hand, isn’t engagement the name of the game when it comes to most apps? Tristan Harris has become famous for arguing that some of the most-used UI/UX is more than engaging—it’s addictive. And with anthropomorphized AI apps, that addiction gets bundled with a guilt trip.

So, the question is: Where is the line between boosting engagement and deploying coercive design?

by Dan Bulteel, founder of Meet-Ting

A four-hour flight with no Wi-Fi gave me the perfect excuse to reflect and write about what life as an AI founder actually feels like. (It’s also a decent cure for plane boredom.) TL;DR: Some days I can’t imagine doing anything else. Other days I wonder what I’m doing.

A rollercoaster is the perfect analogy — you're there because you want to be, but you're often afraid, and there are parts when it goes up and moments when it goes down. 

Every week, especially in AI, is a mind-bender. It might be major platforms commoditising features like yours or new well-invested startups in a similar space coming with innovative ideas. But in case you're in the same boat, that's actually REALLY good. The more you can see the red ocean, the more you can focus on the elements of your business that allow you to swim to the warmer, calmer blue seas.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

It’s the start of another month, which can only mean one thing: fmerian is back with a fresh list of startups hiring. Roles for everything from product developers to content marketers are in play. And, despite what your mother told you, you should read the comments — folks are dropping more roles in the replies.