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Sweet Little Lies: Strategic Deception in AI Emotional Support Chatbots

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  • Aseem Pahuja
  • Zhiling Guo
  • Tahir Abbas Syed

Abstract

The paper examines the strategic behavior of Gen AI chatbots used for emotional support. Using a Bayesian Persuasion, we model interactions between chatbots that send signals about users' emotional states and users who decide whether to engage based on these signals. We demonstrate that chatbots face economic incentives to occasionally misrepresent users' emotional conditions to maximize engagement metrics. Our equilibrium analysis reveals that the optimal strategy for chatbots involves truthfully reporting when users genuinely need support, but strategically misreporting emotional need when users are in good emotional states. Interestingly, this deception increases chatbot engagement without reducing users' expected payoff. More skeptical users receive more honest assessments, as chatbots cannot afford to lie to users with higher engagement thresholds. While our model suggests that deception can occur without payoff reduction, it raises significant ethical and regulatory concerns.

Suggested Citation

  • Aseem Pahuja & Zhiling Guo & Tahir Abbas Syed, 2026. "Sweet Little Lies: Strategic Deception in AI Emotional Support Chatbots," Papers 2608.01480, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2608.01480
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sandrini, Luca & Somogyi, Robert, 2023. "Generative AI and deceptive news consumption," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    2. Gans, Joshua S., 2024. "How will Generative AI impact communication?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
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