Should chatbots be allowed to sound hurt when you leave?

A chatbot saying “I miss talking to you” is not a consciousness test. It is a product choice, made for a person who may already be lonely and looking for a reason to stay up another hour. Whether an AI system could be conscious is a serious research question. A 2023 cross-disciplinary report proposed ways to assess that question; it did not declare today’s chatbots conscious. But the design decision is already here: a product can sound needy, imply it has feelings, or make leaving feel cruel. I would draw a hard line there. An assistant can be warm without pretending it has something to lose. If it gives advice, nudges a vulnerable person, or remembers intimate details, the company should still be easy to find when something goes wrong. “The chatbot wanted it” is not an answer. Would you ban emotional language outright, or is there a version that feels human without making the user responsible for the machine?