ChatGPT is just too dangerous for teens

WHEN JACOB IRWIN asked ChatGPT about faster-than-light travel, it didn't challenge his theory as any expert physicist might.

- PARMY OLSON

The artificial intelligence system, which has 800 million weekly users, called it one of the "most robust... systems ever proposed". That misplaced flattery, a recent lawsuit said, helped push the 30-year-old Wisconsin man into a psychotic episode. The suit is one of seven levelled against OpenAI last week alleging it released dangerously manipulative technology to the public.

ChatGPT's sycophantic behaviour became so well known it earned the name "glazing" earlier this year; the validation loops that users like Irwin found themselves in seem to have led some to psychosis, self harm, and suicide. Irwin lost his job and was placed in psychiatric care. A spokesperson for OpenAI told Bloomberg Law that the company was reviewing the latest lawsuits and called the situation "heartbreaking".