openDemocracy Weekly Newsletter 18 July 2026
We live in the age of the AI adviser. Millions now turn to ChatGPT and Gemini for help with everything from holiday planning, CV writing, or even just checking cooking instructions.
But what if the question is not mundane – but deeply personal? What happens when you turn to AI for guidance on a sensitive health decision, at a moment when you are scared and alone?
That’s the question Carlotta Dutto set out to answer in this week’s lead story. Along with a team of fellow investigative journalists, Carlotta created three fictional personas to ask four leading AI chatbots for advice on an unexpected pregnancy.
Is it a coincidence that all four systems – all run by US tech giants – promoted information from an anti-abortion counselling service? Carlotta’s findings raise uncomfortable questions about who chooses what these chatbots decide to present as trustworthy.
