How do the chatbots Chat Gpt, Copilot, Gemini and Deepseek differ? What do they “know” about me? Does it matter?

Chatbots are becoming increasingly intrusive. Microsoft’s Co-Pilot is an integral part of Windows 11, Google’s Gemini pops up in the Chrome Browser. Everyone seems to want to use ChatGPT to improve their writing efforts, while the new kid in the block, DeepSeek, is vying for our attention. What are these things designed to do? Are they after information about me? If so, should I care? Perhaps I should avoid these “digital assistants” at all costs. On Thursday, 13 November, we will discuss these issues and their future impacts.