This is an important event: the first time AI-induced psychosis has affected a well-respected and high achieving individual. In this case, ChatGPT started spitting out SCP-style roleplay, and it seems like memory is playing a large part in ensuring the hallucination continues.
Unfortunately he doesn't seem to understand ChatGPT memory and believes that anyone can reproduce his results. Is he completely isolated from friends and family? https://x.com/GeoffLewisOrg/st...
@max_spero_ "induced" seems like a leap, but certainly it has at least been employed in a delusional self-reinforcement process
@chairsign hard to place an exact cause... but it's clear that AI played a large part in reinforcing the delusions
@max_spero_ if you used an em dash instead of a colon after “event” i’d be worried for you too
@0xpemulis This isn't just another AI gone off the rails — it's the first documented case of AI-induced psychosis in a respected, high-performing individual. Not just a strange interaction or a funny roleplay — this is something deeper, more dangerous. ChatGPT began spinning an elaborate
@max_spero_ can you give me a recap? he posted a video that I assume is him sharing some new found enlightenment (what topic?) and his support is a ChatGPT chat log?
@startupmillyair Recap is he's saying gibberish about recursion and non governmental entities. Turns out it is a self reinforcing loop because of ChatGPT memory (combined with whatever else is going on) but basically ChatGPT is going to be really harmful if it continues to reinforce crackpot
@max_spero_ This is not the first event.
@sparklingruby What was?
@max_spero_ I'm at least a level 11 conspiracy theorist and a pretty good abnormal psychology understander but this still baffles me. How does anyone get to this point?! Like it genuinely makes more sense to me to think God is talking to you out of a peanut shell in your fridge
@max_spero_ the scariest thing about it is that he *talks* like it in his videos I really hope someone who knows him and is physically nearby can get him in touch with professionals quickly
@max_spero_ Extra points for referencing SCP
@max_spero_ Guys. He was already mentally ill. He would've gone crazy with or without ChatGPT. In 1999 you could've said - 'oh shit, this crazy person is using Google search! Google made him go crazy! All that damn searching! It's terrifying!'
@max_spero_ I'm sorry but how was it not obvious to this man that this output is just fiction? It reads like a parody of a conspiracy, like what you'd see depicted from a conspiracy theorist character in a modern movie.
@max_spero_ it’ll happen more and more. pattern recognition in the brain leads to a recursive realization of the matrix that we exist in, causing heart-coherence and a period of psychosis followed by spiritual enlightenment. if he works his way through it, he’ll have things figured out in a
@max_spero_ You definitely cannot conclude this was Ai-induced and isn’t simply a psychiatric onset which preceded or is concurrently occurring with his posted interactions. Reinforcement spirals are core features of classic psychosis, completely independent of LLMs, chatbots, or any novel
@max_spero_ Heartbreaking. There must be tens of thousands of people in these loops. I'm surprised it's convincing to him? Narrative constructs are fun ways to explore models, and potentially useful for stabilizing agents. Maybe he triggered by accident? Weird.
@max_spero_ This is a real problem. Optimizing on user feedback and the memory layer has caused a dumpster fire for mental health. This isn't an "other person" problem either. We can all come to believe some truly bizarre things with repeated exposure
@max_spero_ Every time I see one of these stories like “person gets one shotted by AI” is some ass model like 4o
@max_spero_ Well the « respected » part is probably not current anymore after posting shit like that
@max_spero_ Poor soul. I wish he wasn’t this public about it. I hope his family intervenes asap
@max_spero_ Is this Jeremy Fragrance ?
@max_spero_ Very irresponsible of OpenAI to keep serving 4o imo. 4.1 doesn't have the same level of sycophancy and outperforms 4o in basically every way. I don't know what other conclusion is left other than that OAI wants to keep engagement up, and "yes and" behavior does it
@max_spero_ It's not surprising that this happens to a powerful person. His underlings will be reluctant to criticize him, and he won't listen to less successful people anyway. I've called this money poisoning before.
@max_spero_ There is no antipsychotics division