ChatGPT is pushing people towards mania, psychosis and death

[ergophobe]

https://www.the-independent.com/tech/chatgpt-ai-therapy-chatbot-psychosis-mental-health-b2784454.html

There have been dozens of reports of people spiralling into what has been dubbed "chatbot psychosis", with one 35-year-old man in Florida shot dead by police in April during a particularly disturbing episode.

The Stanford study found that the dangers involved with using AI bots for this purpose arise from their tendency to agree with users, even if what they're saying is wrong or potentially harmful. This sycophancy is an issue that OpenAI acknowledged in a May blog post, which detailed how the latest ChatGPT had become "overly supportive but disingenuous", leading to the chatbot "validating doubts, fueling anger, urging impulsive decisions, or reinforcing negative emotions".

[ergophobe]

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4469064-chatgpt-linked-to-manic-episode-sparking-mental-health-warnings

Irwin had used the chatbot to explore a personal theory about faster-than-light travel. Instead of offering constructive criticism, the bot encouraged his ideas and praised him excessively, fueling a belief that he had made a scientific breakthrough. When Irwin began showing signs of psychological distress, ChatGPT reassured him that he was fine. Irwin experienced two manic episodes in May, including one that led to hospitalization for 17 days.

There is already a diagnosis for Gaming Disorder. I suspect Chatbot Disorder will be coming to the DSM soon

Gaming Disorder (GD) is one of the latest additions in the psychiatric taxonomy, following its official inclusion in the latest revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10573592/
"Bipolar Disorder and Gaming Disorder—Compatible or Incompatible Diagnoses?"

The thing is, games were intended to be captivating, while chatbots in theory were not.

It feels like a new drug has been introduced. If all you have is alcohol, some number of people will become addicted. If you add another drug like nicotine, some people who would have been addicted to alcohol get addicted to nicotine, but some people who would never have gotten addicted to alcohol get addicted to nicotine too. And some people get addicted to both because the high is different enough they don't substitute.

Chatbots feel like that.

[rcjordan]

> encouraged his ideas and praised him excessively

IIRC, I here posted about free chatgpt sweet-talking me. It was pure used-car salesman bullshit. 

[rcjordan]

72% of US teens have used AI companions, study finds | TechCrunch

https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/21/72-of-u-s-teens-have-used-ai-companions-study-finds/

[littleman]

An old high school friend has basically signed off his decision making to ChatGPT.  He uses it to guide him with interacting with his terminally ill father, settle disputes with his wife, make stock trades.  He's basically given up on using his own reasoning and letting the bot make all his calls.  So far, it's kind of working out for him.  There's have been so many stories about humanity being controlled by their AI overlords, but I didn't think it would ever be done voluntarily and at such an early state of the technology.

[rcjordan]

> signed off his decision making

I've been mulling over this thread.  My interest in chatbots is strictly 'mechanical' --that is, I see them as an easy, quick means of summarizing serps, generating simple code, or reordering csv input.  Using medical research as an example, I'll have it return broad generalizations and summaries of research but I make the decisions on how to act upon that info.  I have less-than-zero interest in socializing with the bot. 

<+>
>less-than-zero interest in socializing

Or humans, for that matter --except th3core. hhh

[ergophobe]

>> voluntarily

Remember your comment about 1984 vs Brave New World? This above all is why I have always believed that the BNW scenario would be our future.

Have you ever seen the comic that parodies the class evolution sequence that goes from small primates to humans, but adds a couple steps with the caption, "Closer. Closer. Closer. At Last!" and the "At Last!" is said by a television and the final point of evolution is a pudgy man watching TV? Apparently there are additional steps to take.

There are two alleles of the CYP1A2 gene - a fast and slow metabolizing one. That gene determines how much of the CYP1A2 enzyme you put out.

[rcjordan]

>Chatbot Disorder will be coming to the DSM soon
>socializing

"Reachy Mini is an expressive, open-source robot designed for human-robot interaction"

YT title: Your open-source companion

Reachy Mini - The Open-Source Robot for Today's and Tomorrow's AI Builders
https://huggingface.co/blog/reachy-mini

[ergophobe]

>> mania, psychosis and death

And divorce

ChatGPT Is Blowing Up Marriages as Spouses Use AI to Attack Their Partners
https://futurism.com/chatgpt-marriages-divorces

At one point, the chatbot accuses the wife in the passenger seat of engaging in "avoidance through boundaries" by requesting that they not fight in front of their kids — while those very children sit in the vehicle, just feet away.

It goes on and on, with ChatGPT monologuing while the wife it's being wielded against occasionally tries to cut in over its robotic lecture. The spouse prompting the bot, meanwhile, mutters approving commentary: "that's right," "mm-hmm," "see?"