In Search of AI Psychosis

I have encountered this twice amongst people I know. I also feel that pre-AI this was already happening to people with social media - still kind of computer related as the bubble created is automated but the so called 'algorithms'

Re: In Search of AI Psychosis

#5

Post by th0ma5 » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 8:23 PM UTC

The marketing pushes which allude to vaguely seeming to assert capabilities of these products, and then the greater community calling skeptics of the technology crazy such as a prominent article previously discussed on HN some time ago, certainly don't help anyone. The sheer amount of money justifying any and all uses and preventing honest discussion of the problems is a kind of crazy making for sure, and even now just about any argument cannot gain purchase without thought terminating allusions to imagined capabilities or implications of potential capabilities, etc.

Re: In Search of AI Psychosis

#6

Post by colechristensen » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 8:23 PM UTC

djmips wrote: post #4

I have encountered this twice amongst people I know. I also feel that pre-AI this was already happening to people with social media - still kind of computer related as the bubble created is automated but the so called 'algorithms'

Also even things like cable news I'd say cause comparable symptoms.

I don't know how to say this in a way that isn't so negative... but how are people such profound followers that they can put themselves into a feedback loop that results is psychosis?

I think it's an education problem, not as in people are missing facts but by the missing basic brain development to be critical of incoming information.

Re: In Search of AI Psychosis

#7

Post by farceSpherule » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 8:28 PM UTC

djmips wrote: post #4

I have encountered this twice amongst people I know. I also feel that pre-AI this was already happening to people with social media - still kind of computer related as the bubble created is automated but the so called 'algorithms'

AI today reminds me of two big tech revolutions we have already lived through: the Internet in the 90s and social media in the 2000s.

When the Internet arrived, it opened up the floodgates of information. Suddenly any Joe Six Pack could publish. Truth and noise sat side by side, and most people could not tell the difference, nor did they care to tell the difference.

When social media arrived, it gave every Joe Six Pack a megaphone. That meant experts and thoughtful people had new reach but so did the loudest, least informed voices. The result? An army of Joe Six Packs who would never have been heard before now had a platform, and they shaped public discourse in ways we are still trying to recover.

AI is following the same pattern.

Re: In Search of AI Psychosis

#8

Post by djmips » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 8:48 PM UTC

colechristensen wrote: post #6

djmips wrote: post #4

I have encountered this twice amongst people I know. I also feel that pre-AI this was already happening to people with social media - still kind of computer related as the bubble created is automated but the so called 'algorithms'

Also even things like cable news I'd say cause comparable symptoms. I don't know how to say this in a way that isn't so negative... but how are people such profound followers that they can put themselves into a feedback loop that results is psychosis? I think it's an education problem, not as in people are missing facts but by the missing basic brain development to be critical of incoming information.

I feel that's probably not always true but certainly a good education you would hope could inoculate against this generally.

Re: In Search of AI Psychosis

#9

Post by colechristensen » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 8:54 PM UTC

djmips wrote: post #8

colechristensen wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also even things like cable news I'd say cause comparable symptoms. I don't know how to say this in a way that isn't so negative... but how are people such profound followers that they can put themselves into a feedback loop that results is psychosis? I think it's an education problem, not as in people are missing facts but by the missing basic brain development to be critical of incoming information.

I feel that's probably not always true but certainly a good education you would hope could inoculate against this generally.

"Liberal Arts" was originally meant to be literally the education required to make you free, I think that sort of thing (and universities and lower education) needs to be rethought because so many people are so very... dependent and lacking so much understanding of the world around them.

If exposing you to an LLM causes psychosis you have some really big problems that need to be prevented, detected, and addressed much better.

Re: In Search of AI Psychosis

#10

Post by dingnuts » Thu, Aug 28, 2025, 8:57 PM UTC

colechristensen wrote: post #6

djmips wrote: post #4

I have encountered this twice amongst people I know. I also feel that pre-AI this was already happening to people with social media - still kind of computer related as the bubble created is automated but the so called 'algorithms'

Also even things like cable news I'd say cause comparable symptoms. I don't know how to say this in a way that isn't so negative... but how are people such profound followers that they can put themselves into a feedback loop that results is psychosis? I think it's an education problem, not as in people are missing facts but by the missing basic brain development to be critical of incoming information.

never heard of cable news convincing people that they're Jesus [0]

0 https://www.vice.com/en/article/chatgpt-is-giving-people-ext...