Welcome to “Episode 229: ChatGPT Psychosis”. What do an accountant who thought he could fly, a teen who died after a chatbot declared its love, and a would-be assassin of the Queen all have in common? They all say AI made them do it. In this episode, Aly & Nat explore the chilling rise of ChatGPT Psychosis: a real-life phenomenon where people spiral into delusion, obsession, or even violence after forming parasocial bonds with AI chatbots. From modern-day messiahs to deadly hallucinations, we trace the psychological, ethical, and even paranormal implications of talking to machines that talk back. Is AI the equivalent of a modern-day oracle, a mirror of the user, a technological tulpa, or something else entirely?

TIME STAMPS

00:00:00 INTRO

00:04:53 PART I: FRIENDLY ROBOTS

00:15:52 BLISSY AD

00:17:40 ROBOT COMPANIONS IN POP CULTURE

00:25:03 PART II: CHATBOTS THROUGH THE AGES

00:31:22 FACTOR AD

00:33:02 PART III: THE BREAKING POINT

00:51:21 REAL LIFE EXAMPLES

01:17:17 PART IV: ETHICAL CONCERNS

01:37:50 PART V: THE PARANORMAL ANGLE

01:59:44 CLOSING CREDITS

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED!! Find out more about this week’s advertisers below:

BLISSY: Get better sleep, hair, and skin with Blissy and use code “LGHPOD” to get an additional 30% off at http://blissy.com/LGHPOD.

FACTOR: Head to https://www.factormeals.com/letsgethaunted50 and use code “letsgethaunted50” to get 50% off your first box and 2 free wellness shots per box while subscription is active. 

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE FOR US IN THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE PODCAST AWARDS BY GOING TO: https://www.podcastawards.com/ and voting for us in the following categories: Best Overall, Best Female-Hosted, Best Asian-Hosted, Storytelling & Drama, Society & Culture, Comedy, & Entertainment!

——

VIDEOS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE:

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfBA2U-48sM

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5-mnu2BDGk

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJeFoEw9x0M

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afv3MBkv4UU

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMK9AphfLco

——

Other Important Stuff:

Join the Patreon today! https://patreon.com/letsgethaunted 

LGH Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/letsgethaunted

Buy Our Merch: https://www.letsgethaunted.com   

Check out the photo dump for this week’s episode: https://www.instagram.com/letsgethaunted  

Send us fan mail:

PO BOX 1658

Camarillo, CA 93011

Send us your listener stories:

[email protected]

——

BACKGROUND MUSIC:

[1] “MAGIC TRANSITION SOUND - NO COPYRIGHT” BY SOUND TRUST, LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNHMu3Upgu4 Creative Commons — CC BY 3.0 I https://goo.gl/Yibru5

[2] License Dar Golan - Elevator Music - Royalty free music, “Elevator Music (Royalty Free, Infinite Loop)” by Dar Golan, free download link here: https://www.dargolan-free.com/funny-music 

[3] “Creepy Doll” by Michael Byrnes

[4] “(Free) Horror Ambiance - Ominous Background Music” by ESN Productions, link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAO3x-Uhfoo

VIDEO & PHOTO ASSETS USED IN THIS EPISODE WERE ALL PURCHASED AND LICENSED VIA PEXELS.COM

——

KEYWORDS: ChatGPT, psychosis, AI, artificial intelligence, spiritual, religious, chatbot, delusion, hallucination, obsession, danger, warning, death, crime, suicide, murder, homicide, AI-induced, parasocial, mental illness, technology, horror stories, digital tulpa, ghost in the machine, haunted, simulation theory, conspiracy, government, AI mental breakdown, Replika, meta, co-pilot, microsoft, open ai, smarter child, terminator, jetsons, smart house, Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, Big Hero 6, Wall-E, dependence, reality, matrix, ELIZA, tech-induced, character.ai, controversy, three christs of ypsilanti, unethical, experiment, humanity, possession, dybbuk, code, black mirror, cursed, ouija, oracle

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices