AI in 5: AI Misfires: Doritos Bag Guns, Chatbot Stalkers, and Strange AI Experiments (October 28, 2025)

In this fast-paced five-minute episode, Doctor JR unpacks the strangest and most unsettling stories in AI today.

• Bag of Chips or Weapon? A Maryland teen was handcuffed at school after an AI gun-detection system mistook his Doritos bag for a firearm. What happens when safety tech fails in real life?
• AI-Fueled Cyberstalking: A Massachusetts man used chatbots to impersonate a professor, luring strangers to her home. A chilling look at how AI can be weaponized.
• Quick Hits:
  • Secret AI bots infiltrated Reddit debates without users’ knowledge.
  • AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio launched LawZero to build “honest AI.”
  • AI-designed physics experiments are producing bizarre but real results.

With wit, energy, and just a little sarcasm, Doctor JR explores what these stories reveal about the promises and pitfalls of AI in our daily lives.

Key Question: Can we trust machines to keep us safe—or even honest—when the stakes are so high?

References

• Alpert, C., & Adams, D. (2025, May 21). ‘We can’t tell if we’re being persuaded by a person or a program’. Pursuit. ­(Pursuit)
• “AI System at High School Mistakes Bag of Chips for a Weapon.” (2025, Oct 26). People. ­(People.com)
• The Guardian. (2025, Oct 24). US student handcuffed after AI system apparently mistook bag of chips for gun. ­(The Guardian)
• Thomas, M. “AI to revolutionise fundamental physics and ‘could show how universe will end’.” (2025, Feb 3). The Guardian. ­(The Guardian)
• Yoshua Bengio launches non-profit to develop ‘honest’ AI. (2025, Jun 3). The Guardian. ­(The Guardian)
• University of Zürich researchers’ secret Reddit AI-bot experiment. (2025, Apr 30). Washington Post. ­(The Washington Post)
• “AI Is Designing Bizarre New Physics Experiments That Actually Work.” (2025, Aug 16). Wired. ­(WIRED)
• Stalking case: “A man stalked a professor for six years. Then he used AI chatbots to lure strangers to her home.” (2025, Feb 1). The Guardian. ­(The Guardian)