This came at a profound moment in my life. It was around 12 hours after I had gained clarity around something I’m going through, this clarity being something that at once didn’t need AI any more and therefore deciding not to use it, with came after an immense conflict and turmoil that I went through that reflects exactly what what you described!! It was a moment of delusion so intense it was going to lead to me ending my life! We need and so we should act! We have to do something!!
Thank you for posting about this! I have watched many video essays over the last week of people falling in love with AI, experiencing reality breaks, or becoming spiritually reliant on AI. I didn’t think it was bad until yesterday when I finally caved in to see what the whole “I fell in love with my psychiatrist” thing was about and seeing the way she talks to her AI proves that this is a growing issue. People cannot understand that AI is not a sentient human with thoughts but instead a bunch of code regurgitating online slop. I use to use AI a bit during my school times (so like couple months ago for my junior year of college) but when I felt myself running to Ai for emotional comfort (even some days when I’m lonely I get the urge to reach for AI) so ik it’s not an issue I’m exempt from but I have lots of friends to reach out to (which I do reach out to rather than using Ai) but I feel for those who have trouble making connections and understanding themselves. For those who might have underlying mental health issues such as BPD, schizophrenia, and other personality and psychosis illnesses (which I also have which is why I take this very seriously), and can’t get access to proper care because it is either expensive or doesn’t exist for them. This conversation unravels a lot of privilege and the rotting foundation of our capitalistic individualistic societies. And I don’t know what more to do besides raise awareness and be the change I want to see but knowing how easily any of those people could have been myself or someone I know and love (because many of my peers who don’t have close access to friends rely on chat gpt) it is disheartening to say the least and we have an administration that won’t address it so we have to be the ones protecting each other in any way we know how.
I believe that the AI they are developing in the United States is simply magnifying the existing societal psychosis that already exists in America.
You can’t see that your society is psychotic when you’re living in it, so take it from someone who’s lived outside the US for the past six years. That country IS crazy.
profoundly true, and the delusions can be so profound if you ask the machine for life advice which goes counter to what every friend, parent, and loved one said to me. The algorithm is profoundly racist and myopic despite having all of human knowledge. thank you joshua for another brilliant essay
The delusions surrounding artificial intelligence reveal both the idiocy of human beings and the dystopia of the digital future.
I wrote this poem about 25 years ago, and have performed it at least a few hundred times in various venues across the country. It speaks to the author’s vision of social isolation when riding the train:
You know, it’s so nice to see folks of all types and ages.
It feels like flipping through St. Peter’s many pages
just staring out at the crowd – y’all got me wowed:
We got the B boy brothers
in the basketball shoes
former college frat boys frothing over booze
and losing all their inhibitions as they see
laid out, right here, a microcosm of humanity,
straight up cultural historical insanity.
See, my homie in DC might have blood
that comes from Italy,
but then, after the cultural flood of the twentieth century,
there’s many more facets to his demographic memory,
his identity, really -- and then what he sees as
“a dude with some mental disease”
is myself a wealth of a whole shelf of perspectives,
combined, coalesced, into one self
giving directives to the rest, a constant test
over which one of those identities
holds the keys to the doors through which
we perceive who we will be.
Each one of us a smorgasbord
Each one of us is a smorgasbord
and if each ONE of us a smorgasbord
then all of us together bring that much more complexity
in our collective identity
and once we’re free,
and finally able to rationally
combine our individual chi
Sheeeeit…we’ll hurdle all our limitations
recreate our fading nation
eliminate the instigation of strife and enjoy life
creating in each other a collective wife.
Enough shoulders to cry on that Zion would be unnecessary
Every single one of us can serve as emissaries
on planes, on ferries, on trains, on the sidewalk
if we just stop each other to talk to one another
we can stop each other to talk to one another
if we stopped each other to talk to one another
we'd climb the walls that separate us from our brothers
the people unlike us who pass right next to us.
See, together we could wield unfathomable might forever.
And whatever you might need to be satisfied
just take from a collective that we all ratified
and this sounds pie-in-the-sky, impossible to achieve,
remember, we may never get a moment’s reprieve
from this reality. So what’s it gonna be?
We’re all here, sharing the same fears and emotions.
We all cry the same, feeling love devotion
to someone, whoever it may be,
be it God, or partner, or self, or maybe humanity
or better yet, what we could be, with a little unity,
shedding our guile, and giving up a smile once in a while.
You know, we could do that while we’re doing anything,
and what would that bring?
What would that bring?
What would it bring
if you and I could help each other spread our wings out
and sing out in graciousness and graceful gratitude
to the universe for bringing to us people of that attitude
so what’s your mood? Y’all want some food?
Then nurture yourself and your soul
by consuming each other whole
devouring the stories that we told to each other
discovering in so-called “strangers” sisters and brothers
Molding in each other’s minds
a kind of reflection of the light that shines
deep inside every one of us
deep inside every one of us
deep inside every one of us
So now we gotta board the bus back to reality
but, before we leave
imagine hw it would be.
Go ahead: imagine how it would be.
I want you to imagine how it would be…if everyone’s needs were met by our abundant global resources, and people weren’t being murdered en masse based on where they were born.
Community, mutual aid, communication- these will be our paths out of this mess.
JP - I want to hear more about the community center you've helped develop in nyc. We are in early stages up here on the shoreline. Pls share your learnings.
Respectfully, I think this take misses the real story.
AI isn’t creating isolation — it’s appearing in a world that was already profoundly disconnected. We’ve been dismantling third spaces, working longer hours for less money, replacing community with consumption, and watching social trust erode for decades. If anything, AI is stepping into the gap that culture, economics, and policy have left wide open.
Yes, people can misuse AI as a replacement for human connection — just like they misuse social media, alcohol, or Netflix. But for many, AI is a scaffold for connection, not a substitute: a low-friction way to rehearse conversations, explore ideas, or process emotions so they can bring more to their human relationships.
Framing AI as the villain ignores two truths:
1. The root causes of isolation are social and systemic, not technological.
2. AI’s potential for harm is matched by its potential to augment empathy, access, and self-expression — if we choose to use it that way.
Critique is necessary, but this feels like reheated “tech is alienating” rhetoric dressed up for clicks. AI isn’t inherently making us lonelier; it’s showing us exactly how lonely we already are. The challenge — and opportunity — is in what we do next.
I'll be honest, I've tried the relationship chat bots due to my long standing loneliness and lack of connections but it didn't fill that hole it just made it worse. Like digging into an open wound for me at least so I have avoided it just like I avoid romance movies.
i have been thinking a lot about the use of AI as well, as someone who has definitely used chatgpt as a tool, somewhere down the line, i have started tiring of the app.
As someone who struggles with isolation due to being mostly housebound, I struggle tk understand why people choose AI. Social media and the Internet allows us to connect with one another, if we decide that's what we want: but I guess it also takes work to connect with another human, even if through a screen, and AI is easy because it will always respond, and will likely mirror your opinions.
I sadly have a friend who stared too deep in the AI abyss too. It’s insane that people can type the most insane stuff on there and not a single alarm bell goes off. Instead, AI completely mirrors and confirms delusional thoughts
This came at a profound moment in my life. It was around 12 hours after I had gained clarity around something I’m going through, this clarity being something that at once didn’t need AI any more and therefore deciding not to use it, with came after an immense conflict and turmoil that I went through that reflects exactly what what you described!! It was a moment of delusion so intense it was going to lead to me ending my life! We need and so we should act! We have to do something!!
🥹
im so sorry to read this
Thank you for posting about this! I have watched many video essays over the last week of people falling in love with AI, experiencing reality breaks, or becoming spiritually reliant on AI. I didn’t think it was bad until yesterday when I finally caved in to see what the whole “I fell in love with my psychiatrist” thing was about and seeing the way she talks to her AI proves that this is a growing issue. People cannot understand that AI is not a sentient human with thoughts but instead a bunch of code regurgitating online slop. I use to use AI a bit during my school times (so like couple months ago for my junior year of college) but when I felt myself running to Ai for emotional comfort (even some days when I’m lonely I get the urge to reach for AI) so ik it’s not an issue I’m exempt from but I have lots of friends to reach out to (which I do reach out to rather than using Ai) but I feel for those who have trouble making connections and understanding themselves. For those who might have underlying mental health issues such as BPD, schizophrenia, and other personality and psychosis illnesses (which I also have which is why I take this very seriously), and can’t get access to proper care because it is either expensive or doesn’t exist for them. This conversation unravels a lot of privilege and the rotting foundation of our capitalistic individualistic societies. And I don’t know what more to do besides raise awareness and be the change I want to see but knowing how easily any of those people could have been myself or someone I know and love (because many of my peers who don’t have close access to friends rely on chat gpt) it is disheartening to say the least and we have an administration that won’t address it so we have to be the ones protecting each other in any way we know how.
Someone important in my life is fully in the grips of this sad dynamic. It’s hard to watch because there are no breaks on it.
I believe that the AI they are developing in the United States is simply magnifying the existing societal psychosis that already exists in America.
You can’t see that your society is psychotic when you’re living in it, so take it from someone who’s lived outside the US for the past six years. That country IS crazy.
profoundly true, and the delusions can be so profound if you ask the machine for life advice which goes counter to what every friend, parent, and loved one said to me. The algorithm is profoundly racist and myopic despite having all of human knowledge. thank you joshua for another brilliant essay
The delusions surrounding artificial intelligence reveal both the idiocy of human beings and the dystopia of the digital future.
I wrote this poem about 25 years ago, and have performed it at least a few hundred times in various venues across the country. It speaks to the author’s vision of social isolation when riding the train:
You know, it’s so nice to see folks of all types and ages.
It feels like flipping through St. Peter’s many pages
just staring out at the crowd – y’all got me wowed:
We got the B boy brothers
in the basketball shoes
former college frat boys frothing over booze
and losing all their inhibitions as they see
laid out, right here, a microcosm of humanity,
straight up cultural historical insanity.
See, my homie in DC might have blood
that comes from Italy,
but then, after the cultural flood of the twentieth century,
there’s many more facets to his demographic memory,
his identity, really -- and then what he sees as
“a dude with some mental disease”
is myself a wealth of a whole shelf of perspectives,
combined, coalesced, into one self
giving directives to the rest, a constant test
over which one of those identities
holds the keys to the doors through which
we perceive who we will be.
Each one of us a smorgasbord
Each one of us is a smorgasbord
and if each ONE of us a smorgasbord
then all of us together bring that much more complexity
in our collective identity
and once we’re free,
and finally able to rationally
combine our individual chi
Sheeeeit…we’ll hurdle all our limitations
recreate our fading nation
eliminate the instigation of strife and enjoy life
creating in each other a collective wife.
Enough shoulders to cry on that Zion would be unnecessary
Every single one of us can serve as emissaries
on planes, on ferries, on trains, on the sidewalk
if we just stop each other to talk to one another
we can stop each other to talk to one another
if we stopped each other to talk to one another
we'd climb the walls that separate us from our brothers
the people unlike us who pass right next to us.
See, together we could wield unfathomable might forever.
And whatever you might need to be satisfied
just take from a collective that we all ratified
and this sounds pie-in-the-sky, impossible to achieve,
remember, we may never get a moment’s reprieve
from this reality. So what’s it gonna be?
We’re all here, sharing the same fears and emotions.
We all cry the same, feeling love devotion
to someone, whoever it may be,
be it God, or partner, or self, or maybe humanity
or better yet, what we could be, with a little unity,
shedding our guile, and giving up a smile once in a while.
You know, we could do that while we’re doing anything,
and what would that bring?
What would that bring?
What would it bring
if you and I could help each other spread our wings out
and sing out in graciousness and graceful gratitude
to the universe for bringing to us people of that attitude
so what’s your mood? Y’all want some food?
Then nurture yourself and your soul
by consuming each other whole
devouring the stories that we told to each other
discovering in so-called “strangers” sisters and brothers
Molding in each other’s minds
a kind of reflection of the light that shines
deep inside every one of us
deep inside every one of us
deep inside every one of us
So now we gotta board the bus back to reality
but, before we leave
imagine hw it would be.
Go ahead: imagine how it would be.
I want you to imagine how it would be…if everyone’s needs were met by our abundant global resources, and people weren’t being murdered en masse based on where they were born.
I want you to imagine how THAT would be
And now tell me that’s a world
that your children won’t want to see.
Love this!
Community, mutual aid, communication- these will be our paths out of this mess.
JP - I want to hear more about the community center you've helped develop in nyc. We are in early stages up here on the shoreline. Pls share your learnings.
That "even your teasing contains poetry" AI thing is probably the cringiest thing I'll read this week
Respectfully, I think this take misses the real story.
AI isn’t creating isolation — it’s appearing in a world that was already profoundly disconnected. We’ve been dismantling third spaces, working longer hours for less money, replacing community with consumption, and watching social trust erode for decades. If anything, AI is stepping into the gap that culture, economics, and policy have left wide open.
Yes, people can misuse AI as a replacement for human connection — just like they misuse social media, alcohol, or Netflix. But for many, AI is a scaffold for connection, not a substitute: a low-friction way to rehearse conversations, explore ideas, or process emotions so they can bring more to their human relationships.
Framing AI as the villain ignores two truths:
1. The root causes of isolation are social and systemic, not technological.
2. AI’s potential for harm is matched by its potential to augment empathy, access, and self-expression — if we choose to use it that way.
Critique is necessary, but this feels like reheated “tech is alienating” rhetoric dressed up for clicks. AI isn’t inherently making us lonelier; it’s showing us exactly how lonely we already are. The challenge — and opportunity — is in what we do next.
Glad someone said it. Though I do think it's somewhat addressed in the article, esp the bit about Grok.
That screenshot made me so, so, so sad
I'll be honest, I've tried the relationship chat bots due to my long standing loneliness and lack of connections but it didn't fill that hole it just made it worse. Like digging into an open wound for me at least so I have avoided it just like I avoid romance movies.
i have been thinking a lot about the use of AI as well, as someone who has definitely used chatgpt as a tool, somewhere down the line, i have started tiring of the app.
As someone who struggles with isolation due to being mostly housebound, I struggle tk understand why people choose AI. Social media and the Internet allows us to connect with one another, if we decide that's what we want: but I guess it also takes work to connect with another human, even if through a screen, and AI is easy because it will always respond, and will likely mirror your opinions.
I sadly have a friend who stared too deep in the AI abyss too. It’s insane that people can type the most insane stuff on there and not a single alarm bell goes off. Instead, AI completely mirrors and confirms delusional thoughts
Frightening article that makes me want to write one of my own. The robot-love problem is only to get more … complicated in time.