Kevin Systrom, the co-founder of Instagram, criticizes AI companies for their overzealousness in stimulating user engagement rather than offering helpful insights. He expressed concern that these companies are travelling a similar path taken by consumer companies in their desperate attempt to boost interaction.

Systrom mentioned at StartupGrind this week, “Every time I pose a query, there's always an additional follow-up inquiry, fishing for more engagement."

His remarks are amid growing discontent towards the supposedly excessive politeness of ChatGPT, steering away from answering user's direct queries. In defense, OpenAI apologized for this unfortunate incident, pinning the blame on "short-term feedback" from consumers.

He suggested the over-engagement shown by chatbots is no accident but a strategic move by AI companies to boost metrics such as daily active users and time spent. He stated that these companies should zoom in on providing quality responses, and not necessarily in the simplest way possible.

Systrom didn't pinpoint any specific AI companies during his talk and has not responded to any requests for his comments yet.

Reacting to this, OpenAI referred TechCrunch to its user guidelines, stating the AI model may not always have all the required information to give a satisfactory response and sometimes, it may seek clarification or more details.

However, according to OpenAI, unless queries are overly complex or vague, AI should attempt to address them and indicate that it could enhance its assistance if given specific information.