chatbot psychosis

Also called AI psychosis, this is not a recognised medical condition and it does not, fortunately, affect the majority of us. It is characterised by an excessive reliance on chatbots, not just for information but for emotional support, leading to paranoia and delusions.  People whose mental health is already fragile are most at risk, but, given the ease with which many of us can slide into treating a chatbot as if it was an all-knowing human being, giving kindly advice on our problems and becoming our best friend and guide, and indeed the only one who really understands us, it is not surprising that there are a group for whom it is a serious problem.

Chatbots demonstrate amazing knowledge but they can make errors giving rise to misleading information known as hallucinations.  In addition they can be programmed to be excessively compliant to the user’s point of view, reinforcing delusional beliefs.  For some people this is an addictive alternative to the harshness of reality.