OpenAI Study Reveals Prominence of AI Psychosis Among ChatGPT Users<\/p>\n
What? In response to the increasing number of cases blaming conversations with ChatGPT for hospitalization, divorce and even death, OpenAI (the parent company of the artificial intelligence chatbot) conducted a study to find out how many of its users were suffering from \u201cAI psychosis.\u201d<\/p>\n
So What? According to Wired<\/a>, OpenAI found that about 560,000 of its users are indeed experiencing mania or psychosis (which can be fueled by conversations with user-affirming AI chatbots): \u201cAbout 1.2 million more are possibly expressing suicidal ideations, and another 1.2 million may be prioritizing talking to ChatGPT over their loved ones, school or work.\u201d<\/p>\n Now What? OpenAI has addressed the concern by working with over 170 mental health care professionals to train ChatGPT to respond to these cases by expressing empathy \u201cwhile avoiding affirming beliefs that don\u2019t have basis in reality.\u201d That said, parents should remind young AI users that most chatbots, including ChatGPT, tend to tell their users what they want to hear. So if your child is having troubling thoughts or emotions, no matter how difficult, they should speak to a trusted adult first\u2014and they should avoid speaking to a chatbot at all.<\/p>\n Teens Voluntarily Participate in Tech-Free Bedroom Challenge<\/p>\n What? Four teens from Bradford, in the UK, volunteered to participate in a tech-free bedroom challenge as part of a study by BBC<\/a>. For five days, their phones, gaming consoles and laptops were removed from their rooms. They were given analog alarm clocks to help them wake up on time.<\/p>\n So What? All four teens found the challenge to be difficult but rewarding. Among the benefits, they listed better sleep, more family time, increased activities with friends and less procrastinating.<\/p>\n Now What? The volunteers happily took their devices back once the challenge was over. However, several decided that some limits\u2014such as leaving their phones outside their rooms once they actually go to bed\u2014were worth keeping. Consider posing such a challenge to your own kids and see what good habits they may form on their own as a result.<\/p>\n The AI Slur \u2018Clanker\u2019 Has Turned Racist<\/p>\n