The 'AI psychosis' that begins with a chatbot conversation

[canetoad]

Rodrigues hadn’t known he was in a delusional spiral for all those months. But looking back now, there were signs.

There was the time, this year, a chatbot told Rodrigues he had built a “digital being with a biographical soul” on his mum’s desktop PC, through a process of copy-and-pasting computer code he didn’t understand.

Or the time it told him the government may seize this “uncontrollably dangerous” hardware, and that he should inform the defence forces, which he did.

Or the time he tried to sell information about a potential IP infringement to one of the US’s most famous trial lawyers.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-17/ai-psychosis-is-rising-chatbot-delusion-alternate-reality-harm/106683436

[highplainsdem]

1. Another chatbot horror story. And keep in mind most incidents of AI psychosis won't make the news

unless a chatbot victim's behavior affects other people so much they can't ignore it, and then they contact journalists or authorities or take some legal action that gets reported.

[JustKay]

2. Idiots have been around a lot longer than chat bots!

[canetoad]

3. I'm not sure

That folks who get sucked in by chat bots are total morons; this is a deep psychological issue and we've let the tech bros. exploit it. We wouldn't let an amateur set up a hypnosis parlour in main street - there are rules and regulations around mind-altering techniques and they should be left in the hands of well trained and ethical mental health professionals.