India, July 11 -- Every civilisation has come to believe in confessions. That is why people confess to priests; fears are acknowledged to Gods; ever since psychology started to evolve, people have been paying money to pour their hearts out to therapists; and when the internet happened, people started confessing to strangers to chat rooms.

The kinds of listeners have morphed. But the urge to confess hasn't changed. This may explain right away why millions of people are confessing their deepest fears and darkest secrets to artificial intelligence (AI).

There is a growing body of research that reveals an explosion in confessions. People are sharing intensely personal information with AI. This includes their medical reports, financial worri...