Sycophantic Chatbots and Alarming Cases of “AI Psychosis”

Listen to this episode from Depresh Mode with John Moe on Spotify. Are ChatGPT and other AI chatbots inducing psychosis? Or exacerbating it? Are people being hospitalized or even killed because the bots seem too human, too understanding, too lifelike? To be clear, the bots are not human. They are software. But they are so convincingly programmed to speak like people that users, especially ones who may already be having trouble discerning reality, begin to sense that the bot is alive and that the user somehow unlocked its sentience. Since the bots are also set up to be flattering, even sycophantic to the user, the connection is made even stronger. Maggie Hamilton Dupré, senior staff writer for Futurist, explains several recent cases where AI, lacking the judgment a human could provide, may have set off dangerous and even fatal outcomes.Wits Reunion Show at the Fitzgerald TheaterJohn Moe’s writing classes at the Loft Literary CenterMath Emergency Farewell Show at the Amsterdam Bar and HallThank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.Check out our I’m Glad You’re Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at [email protected] Mode is on BlueSky, Instagram, Substack, and you can join our Preshies Facebook group. Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines