Chatbot Use Can Cause Mental Illness to Get Worse, Research Finds

"After identifying 181 instances of patient notes containing mentions of AI chatbots, they determined that use of the bots - particularly intensive, prolonged use - appeared to deepen symptoms of mental illness in dozens of patients. They found that this pattern seemed to be especially true for patients prone to delusions or mania, and that the risks of chatbot use may be 'severe or even fatal' for some."

"Dr. Søren Dinesen Østergaard urged that while more research into causality is needed, he 'would argue that we now know enough to say that use of AI chatbots is risky if you have a severe mental illness.' 'I would urge caution here,' said Østergaard."

"A wave of public reporting and research about AI-linked mental health crises - sometimes referred to by mental health professionals as 'AI psychosis' - in which bots like ChatGPT and others introduce, reinforce, or otherwise stoke delusional beliefs in users in ways that contribute to destructive mental spirals and real-world outcomes."

A study by Aarhus University psychiatrists analyzing 54,000 Danish patients' digital health records identified 181 instances of AI chatbot mentions in patient notes. The research found that chatbot use, especially prolonged and intensive engagement, deepened mental illness symptoms in dozens of patients. The pattern was particularly pronounced for individuals prone to delusions or mania. Researchers determined that risks from chatbot use may be severe or fatal for some users. The findings contribute to growing medical consensus that unregulated chatbots pose significant mental health risks, particularly for those with severe mental illnesses, and may introduce or reinforce delusional beliefs.

Read at Futurism