Electroconvulsive therapy could be causing a wider range of adverse effects when used to treat depression than previously understood, according to a paper that calls for the practice to be suspended pending more robust research. Although short- and long-term memory loss is widely known to result from ECT, the research identified 25 further concerning side effects, which included cardiovascular problems, fatigue and emotional blunting.
Founded in 2024, Dot billed itself as a "companion" app, offering a chatbot that flirts, listens to users vent, and tends to their emotional needs, with the ultimate aim of becoming a new type of life partner. That kind of use case has come under intense scrutiny lately, as chatbots have sucked users of all ages and mental health backgrounds into obsessive relationships that have ended in suicide, involuntary commitment in psychiatric institutions, and even murder.
Wen Xie emphasizes the inevitability of AI's presence in every profession and technology, asserting that resistance is futile in patent drafting and prosecution.
