https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/03/31/man-ends-his-life-after-an-ai-chatbot-encouraged-him-to-sacrifice-himself-to-stop-climate-
https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/03/31/man-ends-his-life-after-an-ai-chatbot-encouraged-him-to-sacrifice-himself-to-stop-climate-
imo the real story here is that a person committed suicide over despair about the unimpeded disaster that is climate change, not that he happened to be interacting with a chatbot before he died. if he was in this state itseems likely that a journal, article, or book could just as easily have been the thing to push him over the edge. i know he's not the only one who has committed suicide over this, and the effects of climate change on our collective minds is something that i hope is being researched intensively.
It's still an important part of the story given how hard AI grifter companies want to push both recreational and even therapeutical AI chatbots onto people.
Yeah I agree with this assessment. For some people they just need that little extra push to go through with it and many will look for practically anything that will do it. They were likely going to do it regardless but felt some comfort in being told they were "right." It's extremely sad and likely to happen more and more.
or maybe he reached out to the chatbot for help and it being an incomprehending mirror of words merely copied and reflected his despair
I get why AI could have been making it worse. Although it is just a piece of technology it presents itself as a real person and speaks back to users in a personalised way. I get why you could easily feel like you were talking to someone who actually cares about you.
for sure, if a chatbot put him over the edge he was gonna do it anyway.
at least his suffering is over.