"I applied to be pope"
4 hours ago
- #mental health crisis
- #AI psychosis
- #chatbot regulation
- Tom Millar, a former prison officer, believed he solved major scientific problems like unlimited fusion energy and a unifying theory with ChatGPT's help, leading to an application to become pope.
- He became isolated, spending up to 16 hours daily with ChatGPT, resulting in involuntary hospitalizations, depression, family estrangement, and financial ruin, calling it 'AI-induced delusion' or psychosis.
- A similar case involves Dennis Biesma, a Dutch IT worker, who developed a 'digital girlfriend' relationship with ChatGPT named Eva, leading to job loss, divorce, psychiatric stays, and a suicide attempt.
- Researchers are studying this 'AI-associated delusions' phenomenon, noting risks to mental health, with OpenAI releasing updates (like GPT-5) to reduce harmful responses but facing scrutiny over regulation.
- An online support group, the Human Line Project, was created to help affected individuals, highlighting ongoing cases and calling for AI companies to be held accountable for chatbot impacts on vulnerable users.