The Role of AI Chatbots in Facilitating Online Harm: A Systematic Review

AI chatbots have become widespread across social, political, and commercial contexts, raising significant concerns about their potential to facilitate various forms of online harm. This systematic review examines the relationship between artificial intelligence chatbots and the harm they may enable. Following PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted across six academic databases, applying predefined eligibility criteria to identify relevant studies published between 2020 and 2025. The analysis reveals that ChatGPT and other OpenAI models represent the most extensively examined platforms in current research. The synthesized evidence demonstrates that AI chatbots are linked to multiple forms of harm across technical, behavioral, and societal dimensions. Key harms identified include the spread of disinformation, privacy violations, facilitation of cyberattacks, and enabling of fraudulent activities. This review contributes to the growing body of literature by providing a comprehensive synthesis of AI-related harms, offering insights that can inform policy development and risk mitigation strategies.