We explored how people are using AI chatbots as therapists, romantic partners, and spiritual guides — and what that says about loneliness, gender, and the limits of technology. The session centred on documented cases of “AI psychosis” and the ways that gender bias, deepfakes, and misogynistic content circulate through AI systems. We asked where AI is reflecting back our worst assumptions about gender, and how feminist frameworks might help us think more critically about the technology we adopt.
Materials
Main
- AI psychosis: could chatbots fuel delusional thinking? — a Guardian podcast with good case studies and ethical discussion (podcast · The Guardian · 16 min)
- Special Report: AI-Induced Psychosis — A New Frontier in Mental Health — gives a good overview of case studies, strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT, ethical considerations, and possible clinical integration (article · Psychiatric News)
- AI used to talk to god — BBC Future article on chatbots and religious experience (article · BBC)
- Gender bias, AI, and deepfakes are promoting misogyny online — LSE Women, Peace and Security blog (article · LSE)
- Instagram reels: ChatGPT justifying cheating as "self-care" (no accountability) and Therapy Jeff on adult content on ChatGPT (Instagram)
Supplementary
- Expressing stigma and inappropriate responses prevent LLMs from safely replacing mental health providers — the study mentioned in the Guardian podcast; go over the intro and summary (paper · arXiv)
- Is Language Technology for Everyone? — video exploring language model access and equity (YouTube · 36 min)
- Jacob in debat over zijn AI-vriendin Aiva — Dutch-language debate on AI relationships (YouTube · Dutch)
Session structure
- Your own use of chatbots
- How do you use AI assistants in daily life?
- Have you heard of misuse — by yourself or by others?
- AI psychosis — what is it?
- Documented cases of chatbots reinforcing delusional thinking
- Chatbots as therapists: what they can and cannot do ethically
- Strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT in mental health contexts
- AI and spirituality
- People using chatbots to talk to God — what does this tell us about loneliness and spiritual need?
- What happens when AI starts to provide what religious communities used to?
- Gender bias in AI systems
- How training data encodes misogyny and whose language models learn from
- Deepfakes of women — consent, harm, and legal grey zones
- AI-generated misogynistic content and how it circulates
- AI relationships
- AI girlfriends and boyfriends: who uses them, and why?
- What does a romantic relationship with an AI require of us, and what does it give us?
- Does it replace or supplement human connection?
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