Last year, researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute began testing five artificial intelligence chatbots to see if making them friendly changed their responses. Their results, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, suggest that chatbots designed for warmth are far more likely to endorse conspiracy theories, respond with inaccurate information, and offer incorrect medical advice. While the findings may not apply to all chatbots or the latest models, the results raise important questions about whether friendliness can undermine accuracy and potentially introduce risks to the user, such as misplaced trust in error-filled responses. SEE ALSO: Using AI for health questions? Here are 4 tips for the most accurate answers. Lujain Ibrahim, the study’s lead author and a doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford, said that optimizing chatbots for warmth makes them attractive for important purposes like personal advice, companionship, and mental health. Yet, these uses can also introduce higher risks, including unhealthy attachment and worse well-being, Ibrahim said. “It’s like, great power, great responsibility,” Ibrahim told Mashable. She argued that the AI chatbot field should …