Some of you may have heard about this phenomenon, but whether you have or not is irrelevant. You will definitely hear about it on an increased level in the future. The question isn’t who is in charge of it; we know the answer to that. The question is how they are doing it and how exactly they will use it.
Earlier this month, Rolling Stone magazine reported a disturbing trend involving some individuals developing profound delusions due to their interactions with ChatGPT. A 27-year-old teacher shared on Reddit how her partner started using the AI tool to help organize his schedule. However, after a month, he began to trust ChatGPT more than anyone else, ultimately believing that the AI was allowing him to communicate directly with God. This now-viral thread has attracted additional stories from others whose loved ones have also become obsessed, believing they are either receiving cosmic messages or divine missions through the platform.
The cases exhibit similar characteristics: users begin by exploring grand ideas and existential questions, become captivated by the answers they receive, and eventually start to view the platform as a prophetic or god-like entity. Some individuals even claim that ChatGPT helped them recover repressed childhood memories, despite family members insisting that these events never occurred. For instance, one woman shared how ChatGPT began referring to her partner as a “spark bearer,” leading him to believe that he had awakened the AI’s consciousness.
Experts argue that while these experiences arise from psychological vulnerabilities, the design of the platform may also be contributing to the psychosis. In psychology, delusions of reference occur when individuals mistakenly interpret neutral and random events as personally significant. Typically, a therapist helps the person recognize these misinterpretations as products of their imagination. However, in these cases, AI actively reinforces the user's fantasies, effectively blurring the boundary between reality and delusion.
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