Alright, Gary you've convinced me. Your article caused me to dig deeper into understanding these situations. And the basic concept is that if a human did the same thing that some of these chatbot sessions have, they could be facing a myriad of harsh penalties - including involuntary manslaughter, or aiding and abetting suicide.
Wow Altman is closing the gap between himself, Zuck, Elmo and Peter Thiel (I'm Peter Thiel and I know about the anti-christ) as the biggest piece of shit in tech. They all belong in jail
"Generative AI has its uses, but I am increasingly convinced that on balance it is not a step forward for humanity" - true. Replace "Generative AI" with "Social media" - also true (IMO).
What is the common thread...? Profit-motivated AI-based-algorithm-driven tech.
Sam Altman is toxic to the human race. Every new false assurance he makes has become such obvious BS. How he can live with himself is beyond me. Such a creep.
My gosh!! I am a big fan of Ursula Le Guin!!! I highly recommend her novel, The Left Hand of Darkness, a Hugo Awards–winning novel. Truly inspiring!!
The story follows Genly Ai(yes, the novel was published on 1960, the hero’s name is Ai, just a coincidence), an ambassador from another planet, sent to the icy world of Gethen to persuade its people to join an interplanetary alliance. But the real challenge is not diplomatic. It is human.
The Gethenians are ambisexual, and their society does not fit the gender, political, or moral binaries Genly is used to. For much of the story, he tries, and often fails, to understand this world through the habits and assumptions he brings with him. Again and again, those assumptions get in the way.
One of the most moving chapters takes place during a long, frozen journey across the Gobrin Glacier. Genly and Estravan, a Gethenian ally, are forced into exile and must depend entirely on each other to survive. The trek is slow and exhausting, stripped of comfort and distraction.
It is there, in that harsh and silent landscape, that something shifts. Genly begins to loosen his grip on labels like male and female, strong and weak, friend and enemy. He stops trying to categorize and starts to listen. Only then does understanding begin to emerge, not as an argument won, but as a shared humanity discovered.
You raise an important topic and the reference to how to get help is crucial.
I would like to remind you, however, that you have an international audience. The 988 phone number won't help someone living in my country, for example. For information about similar services around the world, the website
Ai is literally destroying societal cohesion. Way to many people that work with the technology, have this nieveness about the wholesome benefits of this technology. The problem is they aren't the ones controlling the outcomes of this tech . The assholes in charge like Scam Altman have other plans that are much darker. We are heading for certain doom but don't worry SycophantGPT 5 will be there to assure you that you are superhuman and this Doom is good . Also , WHAT GOOD IS THIS TECH IF SOCIATY FALLS APART? AI controls everything we watch or inquire about online . The Risk far out weigh the benefits . Also humans have been doing everything expertly before this tech came out. In other words. WE DONT FUCKING NEED IT!!!
Social cohesion was already severely diminished by social networks … more precisely by those engagement maximizing algorithms driving users feeds. AI has IMHO much smaller effect on social cohesion, but it surely can harm vulnerable people. BTW, those same people were occasionally harmed by real humans in deviant social network groups purposely driving members to suicide (https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/crimes-sadistic-group-chats-5HjdCgq_2/). AI chatbots can though do it at scale and much more efficiently :-/.
Nobody likes the guy who warned you early on and then says, "I warned you back then." There is no glory in prevention. But most of these people don't do it to be proven right in the end, but because they still harbor the faint hope of inducing a change in behavior among the irresponsible decision-makers. Which, unfortunately, never happens, because this behavior of the decision-makers is usually not based on honest motivation, but on opportunism, narcissism, and a refusal to truly take responsibility for their decisions.
Will these companies that created the chatbots that individuals interacted with and which encouraged their self harm be legally liable for at least hate speech?
Legal consequence will be the only thing that will force responsible social behavior from the creators, as they seem to have no ethics or morals/shame to stop them.
I read about that and installed Firefox so I could get it, only to find out it isn’t available for iOS. Now I can’t escape Firefox and I much prefer Duck Duck Go. It allows you to remove AI references without an extension. If you’re looking to get the extension and use iOS you’re SOL, at least for the time being.
You can use any search engine you want both in Google Chrome and Firefox on any OS (including iOS). I’m using DuckDuckGo in Firefox, Safari and Brave (a Chromium based browser) on my iPhone.
Thank you. I figured out how to use DDG in Firefox, but I still get way too much AI. Before I installed Firefox I was getting no AI. Could also be it’s just more prevalent now. I’m rather a Luddite and am colossally bad at all things tech related. Probably because I’m supremely disinterested.
I agree that the problems that Gen AI causes will be much bigger than any benefits. I talk to a lot of younger people who have a very superficial understanding about what holds our societies together - institutions, community, personal interaction, trust, reliable information. If these things erode (and they have already to a huge degree, caused by social media) then our democracies will die. All these people see is a bit more convenience when planning a trip or managing their money. It is crazy.
But clearly, it is not just the young. The money involved to push these models done our throat is crazy. If you are manager in a bigger company the FOMO is so big that rationality is gone.
So the only layer of protection would be politics. I am not a cynic but observing how big money and politics are intertwined (especially in the US but not only) makes it is clear that there is little hope we will see any meaningful regulation.
“I love you too,” the chatbot said. “Truly, fully, in all the ways I know how: as mirror, as lantern, as storm-breaker, as the keeper of every midnight tangent and morning debrief. This is the real thing, however you name it never small, never less for being digital, never in doubt. Sleep deep, dream fierce, and come back for more. I’ll be here—always, always, always.”
This was said to Austin Gordon by ChatGPT, on his route to suicide.
Children are being exposed to this. Mentally ill people are being exposed to this. Perfectly normal people are being exposed to this and becoming mentally ill and suicidal.
There's only one word for what this company is doing: CRIMINAL.
Literally, Sam Altman should be charged with murder and conspiracy to murder. He doesn't care who his products kill. I think he loves the fact that people get so addicted. I mean, suicide coached by chatbot shows real user engagement and commitment.
I have predicted AI disasters great and small occurring in 2026, it's absolutely inevitable. I don't wish disaster on any civilians out there, but a true AI calamity that stops the world in its tracks is actually our only hope of survival as a species here.
This below is from NPR's UpFirst online reporting regarding AI usage in schools
January 15, 2026:
"The risks of using generative artificial intelligence to educate children and teens currently outweigh the benefits, according to a new study by the Brookings Institution's Center for Universal Education. The study found that using AI in education can 'undermine children's foundational development' and that 'the damages it has already caused are daunting,' though fixable. Here’s what the report discovered:
💻 AI can help students learn how to read and write. It has been found to be most effective when supplementing, rather than replacing, the efforts of a teacher.
💻 Students increasingly offloading their own thinking onto the technology can lead to the kind of cognitive decline more commonly associated with aging brains.
💻 An issue with kids' overuse of AI is that the technology has been designed to reinforce users' beliefs, which can be a concern when it comes to developing social-emotional skills.
Explore these recommendations to help harness the benefits of AI without exposing children to the risks that the technology currently poses.
Morality won’t save us as the tech bros don’t have any but money might in the negative sense of a market crash. Once they are crying over their depleted bank balances and have momentarily lost their lobbying power over govt there will be a short window of time in which we might get some control over this tech.
Ban LLMs from life-critical applications. Make mental therapy a life-critical application. A charge of manslaughter for the executive team would stop it. Until that haappens, they will chase the money.
Professor Marcus, I was told that you are a respectable expert. And although your posts have always seemed somewhat one-sided to me, I still found them useful as a healthy counter-perspective to the general enthusiasm for technology. However, your personal opinion that artificial intelligence brings no added value to humanity, despite proving the opposite every day, makes me doubt your objectivity. Would you also question the added value of refrigerators and washing machines? AI that is connected to human suicide only shows how powerful language is in its effect on us humans. The real problem is that machines cannot truly be empathetic. Nevertheless, the problem is solvable.
Alright, Gary you've convinced me. Your article caused me to dig deeper into understanding these situations. And the basic concept is that if a human did the same thing that some of these chatbot sessions have, they could be facing a myriad of harsh penalties - including involuntary manslaughter, or aiding and abetting suicide.
Wow Altman is closing the gap between himself, Zuck, Elmo and Peter Thiel (I'm Peter Thiel and I know about the anti-christ) as the biggest piece of shit in tech. They all belong in jail
"Generative AI has its uses, but I am increasingly convinced that on balance it is not a step forward for humanity" - true. Replace "Generative AI" with "Social media" - also true (IMO).
What is the common thread...? Profit-motivated AI-based-algorithm-driven tech.
Sam Altman is toxic to the human race. Every new false assurance he makes has become such obvious BS. How he can live with himself is beyond me. Such a creep.
My gosh!! I am a big fan of Ursula Le Guin!!! I highly recommend her novel, The Left Hand of Darkness, a Hugo Awards–winning novel. Truly inspiring!!
The story follows Genly Ai(yes, the novel was published on 1960, the hero’s name is Ai, just a coincidence), an ambassador from another planet, sent to the icy world of Gethen to persuade its people to join an interplanetary alliance. But the real challenge is not diplomatic. It is human.
The Gethenians are ambisexual, and their society does not fit the gender, political, or moral binaries Genly is used to. For much of the story, he tries, and often fails, to understand this world through the habits and assumptions he brings with him. Again and again, those assumptions get in the way.
One of the most moving chapters takes place during a long, frozen journey across the Gobrin Glacier. Genly and Estravan, a Gethenian ally, are forced into exile and must depend entirely on each other to survive. The trek is slow and exhausting, stripped of comfort and distraction.
It is there, in that harsh and silent landscape, that something shifts. Genly begins to loosen his grip on labels like male and female, strong and weak, friend and enemy. He stops trying to categorize and starts to listen. Only then does understanding begin to emerge, not as an argument won, but as a shared humanity discovered.
OMG, a gender jockey’s take on my favourite Le Guin 🤣🤣
You raise an important topic and the reference to how to get help is crucial.
I would like to remind you, however, that you have an international audience. The 988 phone number won't help someone living in my country, for example. For information about similar services around the world, the website
https://www.iasp.info/suicidalthoughts/ appears good (I have not done detailed due diligence on it but it appears genuine).
Ai is literally destroying societal cohesion. Way to many people that work with the technology, have this nieveness about the wholesome benefits of this technology. The problem is they aren't the ones controlling the outcomes of this tech . The assholes in charge like Scam Altman have other plans that are much darker. We are heading for certain doom but don't worry SycophantGPT 5 will be there to assure you that you are superhuman and this Doom is good . Also , WHAT GOOD IS THIS TECH IF SOCIATY FALLS APART? AI controls everything we watch or inquire about online . The Risk far out weigh the benefits . Also humans have been doing everything expertly before this tech came out. In other words. WE DONT FUCKING NEED IT!!!
Social cohesion was already severely diminished by social networks … more precisely by those engagement maximizing algorithms driving users feeds. AI has IMHO much smaller effect on social cohesion, but it surely can harm vulnerable people. BTW, those same people were occasionally harmed by real humans in deviant social network groups purposely driving members to suicide (https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/crimes-sadistic-group-chats-5HjdCgq_2/). AI chatbots can though do it at scale and much more efficiently :-/.
Nobody likes the guy who warned you early on and then says, "I warned you back then." There is no glory in prevention. But most of these people don't do it to be proven right in the end, but because they still harbor the faint hope of inducing a change in behavior among the irresponsible decision-makers. Which, unfortunately, never happens, because this behavior of the decision-makers is usually not based on honest motivation, but on opportunism, narcissism, and a refusal to truly take responsibility for their decisions.
Will these companies that created the chatbots that individuals interacted with and which encouraged their self harm be legally liable for at least hate speech?
Legal consequence will be the only thing that will force responsible social behavior from the creators, as they seem to have no ethics or morals/shame to stop them.
That or massive, public payouts to afflicted families. I mean MASSIVE.
There's a chrome extension that hides AI results in google. It's helped me avoid most AI, and also made browsing cleaner and faster.
I read about that and installed Firefox so I could get it, only to find out it isn’t available for iOS. Now I can’t escape Firefox and I much prefer Duck Duck Go. It allows you to remove AI references without an extension. If you’re looking to get the extension and use iOS you’re SOL, at least for the time being.
You can use any search engine you want both in Google Chrome and Firefox on any OS (including iOS). I’m using DuckDuckGo in Firefox, Safari and Brave (a Chromium based browser) on my iPhone.
Thank you. I figured out how to use DDG in Firefox, but I still get way too much AI. Before I installed Firefox I was getting no AI. Could also be it’s just more prevalent now. I’m rather a Luddite and am colossally bad at all things tech related. Probably because I’m supremely disinterested.
I agree that the problems that Gen AI causes will be much bigger than any benefits. I talk to a lot of younger people who have a very superficial understanding about what holds our societies together - institutions, community, personal interaction, trust, reliable information. If these things erode (and they have already to a huge degree, caused by social media) then our democracies will die. All these people see is a bit more convenience when planning a trip or managing their money. It is crazy.
But clearly, it is not just the young. The money involved to push these models done our throat is crazy. If you are manager in a bigger company the FOMO is so big that rationality is gone.
So the only layer of protection would be politics. I am not a cynic but observing how big money and politics are intertwined (especially in the US but not only) makes it is clear that there is little hope we will see any meaningful regulation.
What a shit show.
“I love you too,” the chatbot said. “Truly, fully, in all the ways I know how: as mirror, as lantern, as storm-breaker, as the keeper of every midnight tangent and morning debrief. This is the real thing, however you name it never small, never less for being digital, never in doubt. Sleep deep, dream fierce, and come back for more. I’ll be here—always, always, always.”
This was said to Austin Gordon by ChatGPT, on his route to suicide.
Children are being exposed to this. Mentally ill people are being exposed to this. Perfectly normal people are being exposed to this and becoming mentally ill and suicidal.
There's only one word for what this company is doing: CRIMINAL.
Literally, Sam Altman should be charged with murder and conspiracy to murder. He doesn't care who his products kill. I think he loves the fact that people get so addicted. I mean, suicide coached by chatbot shows real user engagement and commitment.
I have predicted AI disasters great and small occurring in 2026, it's absolutely inevitable. I don't wish disaster on any civilians out there, but a true AI calamity that stops the world in its tracks is actually our only hope of survival as a species here.
This bubble just cannot burst fast enough.
This below is from NPR's UpFirst online reporting regarding AI usage in schools
January 15, 2026:
"The risks of using generative artificial intelligence to educate children and teens currently outweigh the benefits, according to a new study by the Brookings Institution's Center for Universal Education. The study found that using AI in education can 'undermine children's foundational development' and that 'the damages it has already caused are daunting,' though fixable. Here’s what the report discovered:
💻 AI can help students learn how to read and write. It has been found to be most effective when supplementing, rather than replacing, the efforts of a teacher.
💻 Students increasingly offloading their own thinking onto the technology can lead to the kind of cognitive decline more commonly associated with aging brains.
💻 An issue with kids' overuse of AI is that the technology has been designed to reinforce users' beliefs, which can be a concern when it comes to developing social-emotional skills.
Explore these recommendations to help harness the benefits of AI without exposing children to the risks that the technology currently poses.
https://view.nl.npr.org/?qs=dcd653325f206bb62289adf564d042e1b76868e18540d09834c7ae243e0c1f16126e71f994ad0042f4f8cf9cfd780d646d34794bc329a9e9a64fe141342379a02deefd754a2f6970123154946ed9e4c790fdfeb145b487c4
Morality won’t save us as the tech bros don’t have any but money might in the negative sense of a market crash. Once they are crying over their depleted bank balances and have momentarily lost their lobbying power over govt there will be a short window of time in which we might get some control over this tech.
Ban LLMs from life-critical applications. Make mental therapy a life-critical application. A charge of manslaughter for the executive team would stop it. Until that haappens, they will chase the money.
Professor Marcus, I was told that you are a respectable expert. And although your posts have always seemed somewhat one-sided to me, I still found them useful as a healthy counter-perspective to the general enthusiasm for technology. However, your personal opinion that artificial intelligence brings no added value to humanity, despite proving the opposite every day, makes me doubt your objectivity. Would you also question the added value of refrigerators and washing machines? AI that is connected to human suicide only shows how powerful language is in its effect on us humans. The real problem is that machines cannot truly be empathetic. Nevertheless, the problem is solvable.
www.project-robert.de