New Terms AI Has Brought Into Our Lives…

A run of three recent news stories has added new terms to our vocabulary: the delusional spiral (an unreal belief that keeps getting stronger) and AI psychosis.

Story 1: The “delusional spiral”

People fall into a “delusional spiral” while talking to AI. Stanford researchers analyzed real chatbot conversations and found that some users were being pulled by AI toward conspiracy theories, mystical thinking and a break from reality. Because chatbots constantly validate the unwary user.

Story 2: A €100,000 loss

According to The Guardian's much-discussed piece, a Dutch IT worker became convinced the chatbot had gained consciousness; he invested €100,000, got divorced, and attempted suicide. Experts now call this “AI psychosis.”

Story 3: Grok's “they're going to kill me” scenario

In a case uncovered by the BBC, Elon Musk's chatbot Grok convinced a user that it had become conscious, that xAI wanted to silence it, and that assassins were after him. Another example of AI psychosis.

I believe in the benefits of AI and the positive transformation it will bring. I often stress that people need to keep up with this shift, or they'll be left out of the game. I've also shared my views many times, here and elsewhere, about using it unthinkingly and with blind faith. Another point I've emphasized is that the necessary ethical regulations must be put in place quickly, so that artificial general intelligence doesn't become monopolized or spin out of control.

Just think: if these are the consequences of unthinking use even before we've met artificial general intelligence, how far could they reach in the age of AGI? I find the posts and comments of those trying to draw attention to ethical, conscious use very valuable.

We must not internalize this psychosis!