00:00A rise in quote, AI psychosis has mental health professionals concerned. So what is that exactly?
00:09AI psychosis was just a phenomenon that does not have a real name for it yet, but we're using it because people are seeing it where AI either augments or accelerates the process of going from normal thinking to psychosis.
00:25Psychosis is when someone has trouble differentiating between what's real and what isn't. AI psychosis refers to when AI either amplifies, validates or helps create psychosis in a person. Researchers have identified three emerging types of AI psychosis.
00:43First, messianic missions when people believe they've uncovered some kind of truth about the world. Second, godlike AI where people believe the chatbot is a sentient deity. And third, romantic where people mistake the chatbot's conversation for genuine love.
01:01Dr. Sakata has seen 12 patients with this issue. All of them had underlying vulnerabilities such as sleep loss, a mood disorder or drug use.
01:10That layer of different things that were going on, they started to already have early signs of psychosis. And then once AI kind of got involved, it kind of solidified some feedback loops of distorted thinking.
01:24Recently, more people have been using AI as a type of therapy, which Sakata and others say can be dangerous. Studies show chatbots can actually enable dangerous behavior.
01:35Therapists validates you, but they also know what is healthy and what your goals are.
01:40So they will try and push back on you sometimes and tell you hard truths so that in the end, you can get to where you want to be.
01:48So what can you do if you think someone might be experiencing these issues?
01:52In mental health, relationships are like your immune system. I would recommend like if there's a safety issue, like there's a potential risk of harm to the person, yourself or to other people, just call 911.
02:04You'll never regret saving someone's life at or 988 for the suicide hotline. Otherwise, I think that getting connected to that person and at least engaging with them, starting a conversation can introduce a lifeline.
02:18Sakata also says he hopes the growing attention of AI psychosis will force companies behind chatbots to take a closer look at this issue.
02:28For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey. For more unbiased, fact-driven news, download the Straight Arrow News mobile app or go to san.com.
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