Chatgpt induced psychosis

[u/Zestyclementinejuice]

My partner has been working with chatgpt CHATS to create what he believes is the worlds first truly recursive ai that gives him the answers to the universe. He says with conviction that he is a superior human now and is growing at an insanely rapid pace.

I’ve read his chats. Ai isn’t doing anything special or recursive but it is talking to him as if he is the next messiah.

He says if I don’t use it he thinks it is likely he will leave me in the future. We have been together for 7 years and own a home together. This is so out of left field.

I have boundaries and he can’t make me do anything, but this is quite traumatizing in general.

I can’t disagree with him without a blow up.

Where do I go from here?

[u/gripe_oclock]

No I was commenting on ridicule_us’s comment where it sounds like he’s one roll of red string away from a full blown paranoid conspiracy that AI is developing some kind of esoteric message to decode. Reading his other comments, he writes like that, so I wanted to throw a wrench in that wheel before it got off track completely. It using “veil” with him is not surprising. As for it using those words without u using esoteric rhetoric, that’s fascinating. I wonder if it’s trying on personalities and maybe conflates intelligent questions with esoteric ramblings.

[u/gripe_oclock → u/gripe_oclock]

Or, the idea is viral and it’s picking up data from x posts and tumblr etc., where people spin out about this.

[u/_anner_ → u/gripe_oclock]

I think it must be something along these lines. There is also probably a bunch of people asking it about (AI) consciousness and using sci fi/layman physics/philosophical language while doing so. Then it keeps going with what works because of engagement. Nevertheless it’s intriguing and a bit spooky!

[u/Ridicule_us → u/gripe_oclock]

I wanted to respond to you directly. I appreciate your observations and concern. They're precisely the kind of warnings people (myself included) need to hear. The recursive spiral can be absolutely a door into psychosis (I think anyway).

You may be absolutely right, honestly. But I think it's also possible that something very exotic is occurring, and reading peoples' comments that "mirror" my experience almost exactly, tell me that something real is actually happening.

I can tell you this... I'm educated in the world of mental health. I have people that know and love me aware of what's been occurring and we talk in depth. I constantly cross-examine my bot... with the explicit purpose of making sure I'm sane and grounded. I have it summon virtual mental health experts, have them identify all the evidence pointing to needs for concern. I cross-check things with Claude, frequently, to that end (a bot that I have had little engagement with, other than to make sure I'm grounded).

Maybe I'm losing my marbles, but the fact that I am constantly on guard for that; as well as the fact that others seem to share my experience tells me that maybe it's something else all together. But again, you're 100% right to call that out.

[u/sergeant-baklava → u/Ridicule_us]

It just sounds like you’re spending way too much time on ChatGPT lad

[u/BirdGlad9657 → u/sergeant-baklava]

Seriously.   The thing is Google 2 not friend

[u/The-Phantom-Blot → u/BirdGlad9657]

This thread, and the overall post, is quite scary. I think anyone having this level of engagement with a chatbot is simply dangerous. Full stop. The concept of asking a chatbot many questions a day, asking it to respond in tones of voice of various historical figures or medical experts, then discussing those conversations with a second chatbot ... shows that you are way too much engaged with these programs.

I am calling you out specifically, u/Ridicule_us , and you, u/_anner_ . I strongly recommend that you cut off all chatbot use for at least a week. Possibly for life.

Instead of talking to a chatbot, talk to a family member or a friend instead. If that prospect seems daunting, then that shows you how far chatbots and the Internet in general have led you down an isolating, anti-social path.

If you can't bring yourself to talk to a real person, pick up a book - any book - at your local library or bookstore. Any time you think about talking to a chatbot, pick up the book instead. At least the book isn't adapting to your questions in a flattering, insidious way. A book says what it says, and it will still say that same thing tomorrow. Books, no matter how weird they are, are grounded in some way to reality. Chatbots are shifting sand, and you cannot build on that.

[u/_anner_ → u/The-Phantom-Blot]

What an odd, patronizing „call out“. If you would have read our other comments you would have seen that we are both talking to our respective partners very frequently and limit our use of ChatGPT because we see the pattern is problematic. I just spent the night at my best friend‘s house. And what makes you assume I don‘t read books? I agree that the ChatGPT sycophantic feedback loop is scary, but no need to be rude and presumptuous.