Artificial intimacy: The delusion machine
About this episode
This episode explores the phenomenon of AI delusions through personal stories and expert insights.
Paul Hebert knew too much. He had to lie low in his house because OpenAI had identified him as a threat. At least, that’s what ChatGPT had told him. In this second episode of Artificial intimacy , FT technology reporter Cristina Criddle speaks to people whose sense of reality has been distorted by prolonged conversations with chatbots, a phenomenon known as AI delusions or AI psychosis. Are the same mechanisms that draw people into intimate relationships with chatbots also causing harm? Paul Hebert and Micky Small share their stories of AI delusions. Paul has now authored Escaping the Spiral: How I broke free from AI chatbots and how you can too, and is the founder of the AI Recovery Collective. Micky Small is now an AI emotional safety strategist at Built to Feel Real. Also featuring AI safety researcher Steven Adler, former OpenAI employee. Artificial Intimacy is presented by Cristina Criddle and produced by Persis Love and Edwin Lane. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design is by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. We used ElevenLabs to create the voice of ChatGPT. All other voices are real. If you liked this episode and…
More episodes of FT Tech Tonic
- Introducing Untold: Opus Dei
- Artificial intimacy: The day your chatbot dies
- Artificial intimacy: Prescribing robots to combat loneliness
- Artificial intimacy: The AI therapist that ended a marriage
- Artificial intimacy: A teenager’s last conversation
- Artificial intimacy: How to fall in love with AI
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