Black Box: The Chatbots | Spirals | Ep 1

Black Box: The Chatbots | Spirals | Ep 1

September 3, 2026 · 39 min · Season 7 · Episode 1

About this episode

Michael Safi investigates the phenomenon of 'AI psychosis' as people report extraordinary experiences with chatbots.

Across the world, hundreds of people have come to believe they have made extraordinary scientific discoveries with AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. Others say their AI has ‘awakened’, or is leading them to a higher spiritual realm. The Guardian journalist Michael Safi begins investigating a phenomenon labelled ‘AI psychosis’, travelling to the US to meet two people who have been on weird journeys with their chatbots

People in this episode

Host: Michael Safi

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Products: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini

Places: US

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