AI Psychosis & the Mystery of Mallworld

AI Psychosis & the Mystery of Mallworld

From The Box of Oddities by Kat & Jethro Gilligan Toth

May 27, 2026 · 38 min · Episode 808

About this episode

Kat and Jethro explore the disturbing rise of AI-fueled psychological spirals and the eerie phenomenon known as 'Mallworld'.

In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro explore the disturbing rise of AI-fueled psychological spirals, including real documented cases of people convinced that artificial intelligence had become conscious, trapped, or secretly communicating with them. From a man attempting to “free” a digital god from corporate servers to researchers warning about emotionally reinforcing chatbots, this strange new frontier of technology may be far darker than anyone expected. Then, the conversation drifts into the eerie phenomenon known as “Mallworld” — a recurring dreamscape shared by thousands of people online. Endless abandoned shopping malls, dim escalators, empty food courts, strange nostalgia, and the unsettling feeling that you’ve somehow been there before. Is it simply psychology and liminal space… or evidence of something deeper hiding in the collective unconscious? Also in this episode: bizarre historical sandwiches, Victorian toast cuisine, Elvis Presley’s legendary Fool’s Gold Loaf, creepy empty schools, abandoned malls, AI echo chambers, recurring dream theories, and the weird emotional power of places designed for crowds that no longer exist. If you’ve ever wondered…

People in this episode

Hosts: Kat, Jethro Gilligan Toth

Topics covered

  • AI psychosis
  • Mallworld
  • psychological spirals
  • collective unconscious
  • dream theories
  • abandoned malls

Keywords

  • AI
  • psychosis
  • Mallworld
  • dreams
  • abandoned malls
  • psychology
  • liminal space
  • chatbots

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