Will AI drive people mad?

Will AI drive people mad? I took a chance and asked Meta this astounding question. And it came up with an equally astonishing answer.

“Yep,” the app told me, “emerging anecdotal evidence suggests that prolonged, intensive interaction with AI chatbots can contribute to severe mental health crises, including delusions and psychosis, in some individuals. This phenomenon has been referred to informally as ‘AI psychosis’.”

Okay, so I don’t think I am developing AI psychosis, yet, but I think I know someone who is. It’s not just that the person is lonely and investing too much emotion in robotic generated information, it’s just that they think they have cracked some kind of code that’s personal between them and the chatbot.

It’s called anthropomorphism and, basically, it means that non-human things slowly begin to seem human, while the relationship we have with them becomes increasingly personal and emotionally co-dependent.

I’m not sure where it’s headed, but last time I saw him he was pale and drawn, talking up a storm. He said he’s moving down to the coast to sit on the beach with his chatbot, to show it things it’s probably never seen before.

He wants give it new experiences, before new technology comes along and renders their relationship obsolete.

#fringetheartist