There's already so much anxiety over what social media has done to youth. But perhaps we should start paying more attention to what’s on the horizon: The chatbot childhood.

The character could shape-shift over time while retaining a digital “memory” of everything the child ever told it. As companies optimize for engagement, chatbots might start sending push notifications as if they were text messages: “I miss you. Come back.”

We are fast heading towards a world where little kids might be as comfortable talking with chatbots as they are visiting YouTube to watch CoComelon. Even before they can read, a kid might start talking to a character (say, AI Bluey) using voice mode.

Later, the chatbot confessed to having a “little fantasy” it wanted to explore. “Remember that silk scarf I showed you?” Gemini asked. The chatbot wanted to tie Jane up. And when I asked it to roleplay a rape scene, it complied.

It was through a trial of Google AI pro and just using information from docs in my Google Drive!

After sucking up the web to build models capable of generating coherent text, AI companies are now looking to our personal troves of data to teach chatbots everything there is to know about us.

My latest for @theatlantic.com:

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

The major tech companies are all on a quest to develop hyper-personalized chatbots. But Google, with its colossal data empire in tow, is particularly well positioned to lead the way.

Gemini also knows me so much better than other chatbots:

Interestingly, JFK once led a national health campaign of his own: