Signal’s Meredith Whittaker wants you to remember that AI chatbots ‘are not your friends’

Signal's president warned that AI chatbots like popular conversational AI tools are not sentient beings or friends, and should not be treated as such. She expressed concern about a scenario where an AI assistant could access multiple personal services simultaneously, including messaging apps, financial accounts, and calendars, which she characterized as creating a backdoor into one's privacy. She also stated that she limits her own use of AI tools and avoids relying on them for thinking and writing processes. The warning highlights privacy risks associated with giving AI systems broad access across multiple applications and personal data.