More than a million people every week show suicidal intent when chatting with ChatGPT, OpenAI estimates. Finding is one of most direct statements from the tech company on how AI can exacerbate mental health issues.

This worries me, ChatGPT is basically programmed to say ‘yes and’

ChatGPT prompters, the future Darwin award winners.

They were warned about the dangers and didn’t care.

I had a passionate discussion about AI with a very smart, very socially conscious but very not-online friend last week. In trying to impart the many horrors of AI, both environmental and social, I felt that I sounded like a kook. But everything I was saying was true. It drives people to psychosis and suicide. At BEST it dulls our minds.

Not being a skilled debater I didn’t feel I’d done a good job convincing her in that moment, but she has since sent me a couple of articles with comments along the lines of “I see what you mean.” So, I will continue to spread the good word about how bad AI is, I agree a lot of people are just not aware.

I work in community mental health. I had a client with schizophrenia who was doing really well for a while there. They were delusional but their delusions were kind of something they’d mention, talk about a bit then move on from. Very mild mannered person. Didn’t hear from them for a while, then all of a sudden they’re back, telling me they’ve been using ChatGPT. These delusions were suddenly religious in nature, all they talked about, extreme, they were yelling at and swearing at me. Drinking alcohol again, isolated themselves from the few people they could talk to. I understand people talk about new and possibly not even present dangers with every new thing and people like to dismiss this as similar to the dangers of social media but I cannot possibly tell you how much sicker this person had become. And I don’t know if anyone here has ever tried to get someone psychotic who isn’t actively saying “I am going to kill myself and/or others” hospitalized in the USA but especially these days, it can be REALLY hard. I feel like people who hand wave it have a limited concept of the realities of many psychotic people and how they live. many have isolated themselves from everyone with their illness, making ChatGPT particularly attractive. It’s a specific danger with far too many consequences to ignore. Like oh cool people are losing Medicaid and we have a Delusion Nexus now. Nothing can go wrong.

Everyone: ChatGPT can be subpoenaed like any other record. So don’t use it anyway, but if you do make sure you keep this in mind.

I think you’re adding some causation that they did not admit