ChatGPT sued over suicides, delusions

Four wrongful death lawsuits were filed against OpenAl on Thursday, as well as cases from three people who say the company’s chatbot led to mental health breakdowns.

- KASHMIR HILL

The cases, filed in California state courts, claim that ChatGPT, which is used by 800 million people, is a flawed product. One suit calls it “defective and inherently dangerous.”

A complaint filed by the father of Amaurie Lacey says the 17-year-old from Georgia chatted with the bot about suicide for a month before his death in August. Joshua Enneking, 26, from Florida, asked ChatGPT “what it would take for its reviewers to report his suicide plan to police,’ according to a complaint filed by his mother. Zane Shamblin, a 23-year-old from Texas, died by suicide in July after encouragement from ChatGPT, according to the complaint filed by his family.

Joe Ceccanti, a 48-year-old from Oregon, had used ChatGPT without problems for years, but he became convinced in April that it was sentient. His wife, Kate Fox, said in an interview in September that he had begun using ChatGPT compulsively and had acted erratically. He had a psychotic break in June, she said, and was hospitalised twice before dying by suicide in August.

“The doctors don’t know how to deal with it,” Ms Fox said.