Technology

Ceccanti had been communicating with OpenAI’s chatbot for a few years. He used it initially as a tool to brainstorm ways to build a path to low-cost housing for his community in Clatskanie, Oregon, but eventually turned to it as a confidante. He would spend 12 hours a day typing to the bot, according to his wife. He had cut himself off from it after she, along with his friends, realized he was spiraling into beliefs that were detached from reality

“They developed grandiose beliefs about being on the verge of a major technological breakthrough, alongside classic manic symptoms such as impulsive spending, decreased need for sleep and, at the peak, auditory hallucinations,” said Sakata. “What stood out clinically was that the chatbot interactions did not generate the illness, but appeared to scaffold and reinforce beliefs that were already becoming pathological.”

Sad ending. Crazy how extremism works.